August 5, 2026
What is your position?
I am a graduate student in the Program in Microbiology and Immunology (PMI) in Marlies Meisel's lab.
What inspired you to pursue immunology research?
I really enjoyed my undergraduate and master's research on the role of antioxidants in antibiotic resistance, which led me to pursue a PhD. Once here in Pittsburgh, I followed my interest in understanding the role of commensal microbes and joined Marlies’ team. Working with Marlies to evaluate how microbiome- and lifestyle-derived factors tune immune responses has been incredibly fascinating and rewarding—it is the kind of research I always dreamed about!
What does your research focus on?
Exercise promotes health and prevents disease, but the specific mechanism(s) of how exercise benefits us are not well understood. My research has uncovered that exercise boosts our immune response against cancer by changing the microbiome. Specifically, exercise changes how bacteria within the gut behave, driving an increase in bacterial production of a metabolite called formate, which acts directly on CD8 T cells to improve their anti-cancer function through a specific transcription factor called Nrf2. This work identifies specific bacterial and host signals that can be targeted to improve efficacy of existing anti-cancer therapies by reproducing exercise-associated benefits for cancer patients. Our findings also suggest that exercise-induced microbiome changes may be responsible for exercise-associated benefits against other diseases.
What are your career aspirations?
I would like to remain in academia and establish my own research team.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself
During graduate school, I ran two marathons, learned to play roller derby (though I'm currently on a break while I finish up my degree!), and drove from Pittsburgh to Tucson, Arizona, and back, camping at national parks along the way!