Watowich Lab Members
Rachel Babcock
Ph.D. Student
RDziuk@mdanderson.org
My research interests are in innate immunity, dendritic cell biology and molecular biology. With my project, I use both in vitro and in vivo models to study the role and regulation of lineage-specific transcription factors in DC immune function.
Taylor Chrisikos
Ph.D. Student
TTChrisikos@mdanderson.org
My interests lie in both dendritic cell biology and tumor immunology. Currently, I have two main projects, 1) elucidating how myeloid cells promote pulmonary metastasis in breast cancer, and 2) uncovering novel aspects of how tumor infiltrating dendritic cells respond to the tumor microenvironment.
Oleksandr (Sasha) Kyrysyuk
Undergraduate Research Student
I am characterizing the expression of immune factors in a CD103+ Dendritic Cell (DC)-Based Vaccine, which may control its efficacy in a tumor microenvironment. I am further studying the potential of the DC-based vaccine to activate other immune lineages for an anti-tumor response.
Haiyan Li
Assistant Professor
haiyanli@mdanderson.org
I have been studying the molecular cues and extrinsic signals involved in the development and functional diversification of innate immune cells and their hematopoietic progenitors, with a major focus on dendritic cells (DCs). My ongoing research is to understand the essential roles of cytokines and their responsive transcription factors, STATs, in modulating DC subset specification and functional polarization during inflammation and tumor immunity. My long-term goal is to dissect the regulatory networks involved in shaping the differentiation and function of immune cells, with primary interest in studying the crosstalk between myeloid cells and disease-specific microenvironmental factors.
Kathryn Newton
Research Assistant
KDNewton@mdanderson.org
My role is to aid in the studies of immune toxicity events during
immunotherapy. The goal of this research project is to understand the
roles of dendritic cells and STAT signaling in regards to the
immune-related adverse effects of cancer immunotherapies.
Yifan Zhou
Postdoctoral Fellow
YZhou14@mdanderson.org
- To study the role of DC-intrinsic STAT signaling in inflammation and tumor development.
- To access the therapeutic role of DC-based vaccination in cancer.
- To determine the role of DC in immune-related adverse events of cancer immunotherapies.
Bhakti Patel
Postdoctoral Fellow
BPatel6@mdanderson.org
My research interests lie in understanding the anti-inflammatory role of STAT3 in bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function. I am further interested in determining transcriptional targets of STAT3 in HSCs and myeloid cells, to elucidate the mechanism by which STAT3 protects HSCs and BMDMs from inflammation-induced DNA damage.
Laura Kahn Serrudo
Ph.D. student
LMKahn@mdanderson.org
Colitis is a major immune related adverse event (irAE) that occurs upon checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. I am interested in elucidating the role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells and IL-6 family cytokines in checkpoint blockade-associated colitis.
XianXiu Wan
Postdoctoral fellow
XWan2@mdanderson.org
My research interests are tumor biology and hematopoiesis. Currently, I am generating CXCL2 knockout PyMT cell lines by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. Our aim is to understand the role of CXCL2 in regulating growth of primary PyMT tumors and its function in breast cancer metastasis to lung by delivery of CXCL2 knockout PyMT cells to mouse. I am also investigating the role and the molecular pathways for the cytokine-activated transcription factor Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) in maintaining lineage-balanced hematopoiesis.
Yusra Medik
Postdoctoral Fellow
YMedik@mdanderson.org
My research interest is in cancer immunotherapy and mechanisms of
immune-related adverse events (irAEs) to checkpoint blockade therapy.
Currently, I am studying the role of the innate immune
system-microbiome axis in the anti-tumor response and enterocolitis
associated with checkpoint blockade. Elucidating the underlying
pathophysiology of irAE is important to overcome current limitations
of onco-immunology.