eduardo.davila@cuanschutz.edu

Gabriella (Gabi) is a PhD student in the Immunology Graduate Program. She graduated with honors and Magna Cum Laude distinction with a B.S in Molecular Biology from the University of Tampa, Florida. Gabi then worked as a research associate at the Moffitt Cancer Center for two years where her research focused on identifying immunogenic class II epitopes for use in dendritic cell vaccines as an immunotherapy for breast cancers.

Gabi’s research interests focus on developing immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. Specifically, her research efforts focus on elucidating the influence of MyD88 signaling on transcriptional/regulatory networks in CD8 T cells to resist terminal exhaustion and promote stemness to improve anti-tumor responses.

Outside of the lab, Gabi enjoys doing yoga, snowboarding, and hiking outdoors! With her passion for teaching and community outreach, Gabi is also the graduate student director of the volunteer program “Think Like a Scientist (TLaS)”, which provides free after-school science programs to under-funded elementary schools surrounding the CU-Anschutz campus. She also loves exploring new restaurants round Denver and relaxing at breweries with friends.

www.linkedin.com/in/gabriella-albert18 

Xander graduated from CU Boulder with a B.A in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (summa cum laude), and a B.A in Neuroscience.  He completed his undergraduate research in a neuroscience lab looking to identify the neuronal substrates of pair-bonding in the monogamous prairie vole. 

Xander's current research is focused on identifying novel chemotherapeutics that sensitize T Cell Lymphomas to CD8+ CTL-mediated killing and aims to find FDA-approved compounds that can be repurposed to treat T-Cell malignancies. 

In his free time Xander enjoys singing with his old A Capella group, the CU Buffoons, hiking and playing with his cat, Cleo.

Phoebe is a PhD student and NSF fellow in the Cancer Biology Program. She obtained her B.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and went on to become an R&D assay development researcher at Visby Medical for several years where she helped develop rapid handheld PCR-based medical diagnostic devices for various infectious diseases.  

Phoebe's main interest is on developing T-cell based therapies for treating solid tumors and she is specifically working to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying CD8:MyD88 T-cell improved anti-tumor efficacy. 

An avid fan of the outdoors, Phoebe often goes hiking, camping, and snowboarding in the winter.  She is an avid podcast listener and consumes a whole range of topics from US foreign policy to true crime.

Twitter: @Pipettemaster

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebecao/

Jiangli received his PhD in 1996 from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, China.  His current project involves engineering TILs to improve antitumor efficacy and persistence.  He also aims to characterize the safety of engineered TILs through the use of syngeneic and humanized mouse models. 

Outside of the Davila Lab, Jiangli enjoys fishing and playing ping pong.         

Allie is a Master's candidate in the BSBT/Microbiology & Immunology Program.  She earned her B.A. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with a Certificate in Public Health from CU Boulder. 

In the lab, Allie is the manager of the Cytek Aurora Flow Cytometer. Currently, she is characterizing the TCR repertoire and functional response of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in response to chemotherapies in melanoma mouse models. 

Winter is Allie's favorite season; she loves walking her dog in the snow and watching hockey. In the summer she looks forward to hiking and wildflower photography! She also enjoys volunteering with the DAWN Clinic, a local medical non-profit serving uninsured individuals in Aurora. 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allison-christians

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Eman is a second year Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Transplant fellow at Children’s Hospital Colorado on the Anschutz Medical Campus.  She Received her MD/MSc from Mansoura University Medical School, Egypt after which she joined the transplant unit at the Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine as a clinical research fellow. 

Outside of her clinical and laboratory work, Eman enjoys being outdoors and travelling, playing ping pong, squash, and tennis, and sharing food!  Pictured, Eman in Amsterdam in 2019 before the pandemic where she was awarded to travel to present her poster in EHA 2019.

Twitter: @elsabbagh_eman

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Daniela is an undergraduate student researcher in her senior year at the University of Colorado Denver, where she will obtain her bachelors degree in Biology.  A MARC-U STAR Scholar, Daniela is most recently a EUReCA Fellow.   Her work in the Davila Lab focuses on the effect that IL-1 receptor associated kinase-M (IRAK-M) has on melanomas and its ability to metastasize. 

In her free time, Daniela enjoys hiking and loves dogs, especially her own!  She also developed a new found love for puzzles during quarantine.  

Jitao is a research associate with the Davila lab and received his PhD in Microbiology from Peking University.  His current research is focused on developing synthetic cell signaling modules to customize T cell responses for cancer therapy. 

Outside the lab, he enjoys writing scientific stories and handiworks. The photo shown here is of Jitao biking in Tibet.

Jing received her PhD from the Microbiology Department of Witten/Herdecke University. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Davila Lab at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Her project is focused on design and engineering methods necessary for enhanced T cell responses to weak immunogenic or low expressed neoantigens with the end goal of treating patients.

Pearl is a PhD student in the Cancer Biology program. She earned her BSc with honors in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Pearl then worked as a research associate at Locus Biosciences in North Carolina for two years, where she focused on discovering novel bacteriophages and identifying host-range synergism for use in the treatment of various multidrug resistant, bacterial infections.

Pearl's current research focuses on understanding the role of MyD88 of T-cell longevity and persistence for adoptive cellular therapies. Outside of the lab Pearl enjoys singing as a part of the CU Anschutz community choir, playing the piano and gardening. In the summertime she enjoys hiking and camping in the great Colorado outdoors.