Lab Members

Kristen E. Pauken, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
KEPauken@MDAnderson.org
Connect with Dr. Pauken on LinkedIn
X (formerly Twitter): @kepauken

Dr. Pauken received her Bachelor of Science in microbiology in 2007 from Colorado State University, where she studied how sand fly saliva impacted innate immunity to parasitic infection in the lab of Dr. Richard Titus. She then went on to receive her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 2013 in the lab of Dr. Brian Fife, studying PD-1-mediated regulation of autoreactive CD4⁺ T cells during Type 1 Diabetes. Following completion of her Ph.D., Dr. Pauken moved to the University of Pennsylvania, examining how PD-1 blockade impacted exhausted CD8⁺ T cells in the lab of Dr. E. John Wherry. Here, Dr. Pauken made the seminal observation that T cell exhaustion represents its own unique cell state, fundamentally different at the epigenetic level than functional effector or memory cells that develop during acute infection. Importantly, PD-1 inhibitors were not capable of reprogramming this inflexible epigenetic state; rather, these inhibitors temporarily boosted effector activity of genes that were confined to the open chromatin landscape within exhausted T cells. In 2016, Dr. Pauken then went on to study in the lab of Dr. Arlene Sharpe at Harvard Medical School, where she focused on mechanisms of PD-1-mediated regulation of CD8⁺ T cells in cancer. In Dr. Sharpe’s lab, Dr. Pauken developed significant expertise in single cell RNA seq, and developed a method using single cell sequencing of the T cell receptor (TCR) to track T cell clones of interest based on having a shared TCR sequence between tissue types or treatment groups.

In her independent position, Dr. Pauken is combining her passion for exhaustion and tolerance, interrogating the mechanisms by which the immune system regulates the balance between protective immunity and immune-driven pathologies. The main goal of her lab is to better understand how PD-1 inhibitors regulate both protective and pathogenic CD8⁺ T cell responses, with the long-term goal of developing strategies to uncouple the protective effects of immunotherapy from the toxic side effects. 

Aloukick Kumar Singh, Ph.D.
Research Scientist

Dr. Aloukick Singh is a research scientist in the Pauken Lab. Dr. Singh completed his doctoral degree with Professor Kashi Nath Prasad at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. During his Ph.D., Dr. Singh investigated the immune response operating locally in the brain tissue surrounding different stages of Taenia solium cysticerci. In 2016 he joined the laboratory of Dr. Yair Reisner as a postdoctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science. While at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Dr. Singh developed the protocol for the generation of CD8⁺ veto cells and established the safer and novel approach for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to overcome various MHC barriers in allogeneic transplantation setting by using donor-derived CD8⁺ veto cells. In 2018, Dr. Reisner moved to MD Anderson Cancer Center along with five key members of his lab, including Dr. Singh. During his work with Dr. Reisner at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Singh developed the allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation approach to cure the sickle cell disease in a well-defined mice model by using donor-derived CD8+ veto cells. Moreover, Dr. Singh also established the approach to use CD8⁺ veto cells as a universal off-the-shelf CAR-T cell product. In the Pauken Lab, Dr. Singh’s major goal is to explore the potential role of PD-1 in regulation of both protective and pathogenic immunity.

Toyosi Adewunmi, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Toyosi Adewunmi received her undergraduate degree at McMurry University in Abilene, TX and went on to get her masters in biochemistry at Texas State University. Her time at Texas State strengthened her interest in translational science as well as her desire to apply discoveries made at the bench to the health and wellness of her community. Dr. Adewunmi went on to receive her Ph.D. in translational biology and molecular medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Rosen, where she investigated the role the lncRNA, Malat1, plays in altering the tumor microenvironment (TME) and its potential as a therapeutic target in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). In the Pauken Lab, Dr. Adewunmi is exploring the impact of PD-1 loss on CD8⁺ T cell trafficking and function.

Arielle Dessens, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Arielle Raugh received her Bachelor of Science in molecular biology from Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, PA. While there, she studied the responses of CD4 T cells to SV40 T ag epitopes and first developed her love for T lymphocytes. Prior to entering graduate school, she also spent time at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA studying mouse CMV and Zika virus. Through all of this, Dr. Raugh became interested in how the immune system functions, and more specifically, what happens when tolerance mechanisms break down and autoimmunity develops. Dr. Raugh then went on to receive her Ph.D. in translational biology and molecular medicine from Baylor College of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Maria Bettini where she studied the role of the Amphiregulin/EGFR axis on regulatory T cells in Type 1 Diabetes. In the Pauken Lab, Dr. Raugh’s work is focused on better understanding CD8 T cell tolerance to self-antigens and how the PD-1 pathway affects tolerance, with the overarching goal of developing better therapeutic strategies for autoimmune patients. 

Prachi Sao, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Prachi Sao is a computational biologist who is performing her postdoctoral studies in the Pauken Lab. Dr. Sao received a Bachelor of Technology from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, and a Master of Technology in bioinformatics from Karunya University, Coimbatore. Dr. Sao then completed her Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Sachidanand Singh at Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, where she utilized computational approaches to identify interrelated gene signatures between arthritis and periodontitis, as well as pathways shared between the disease states. In the Pauken Lab, Dr. Sao’s work is focused on applying data science approaches to cancer, autoimmunity and immune-related events following cancer immunotherapy to interrogate the immunological mechanisms driving protective vs. pathogenic immune responses following PD-1 blockade.

Rachel Morris
Ph.D. Student

Rachel Morris completed her Bachelor of Science in microbiology from Brigham Young University in 2022. During her undergraduate studies, Rachel investigated the role of TK1 in breast cancer pathogenicity, cell cycle progression, cellular survival, and cellular migration. In 2021, Rachel participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Training (SMART) Program developing small molecules to inhibit CTLA-4 in cancer immunotherapy. Rachel started her dissertation research in the Pauken Lab studying immune-related adverse events associated with PD-1 blockade.

Alec Jacob Solis
Ph.D. Student

Alec Jacob Solis completed his Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology and immunology with a minor in chemistry from The University of Texas (UT) at San Antonio in May 2024. His primary focus during his undergraduate degree was to screen various drug libraries in hopes of findings compounds that inhibit Clostridioides difficile biofilms. Alec was a participant in the MARC Honors Research Training Program at UT San Antonio, an Amgen Scholar at Columbia University, an undergraduate research fellow in the ESTEEMED Honors Research Training Program at UT San Antonio and a summer research intern at Ohio State University. Alec joined the MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2024. Alec’s project will be focused on understanding the immunological mechanisms driving response and resistance to PD-1 immunotherapy in cancer.