Ciencia Puerto Rico

My thesis work in the Nemenoff laboratory involves studying the tumor microenvironment of Non-small Cell Lung Cancers (NSCLC), or the complex interactions between tumor cells and the immune system. More specifically, I am studying how to improve response rates to immunotherapy using an immunocompetent and orthotopic mouse model of NSCLC. In other words, these mice develop tumors in the correct tumor microenvironment (the lung) and develop with a fully functional immune system, similar to most human patients. Thus, with tools like conventional flow and mass cytometry, I have begun to dissect the mechanisms behind why certain tumors fail to respond to immune attack, and how these mechanisms can be manipulated in more accurate preclinical models of the human NSCLC.