Lab Members

Sana Karam, MD, PhD - Principal Investigator

Welcome to the Karam Lab. I am a physician-scientist and radiation oncologist specializing in treating patients with head and neck, pancreatic, and CNS malignancies. Our laboratory research encompasses both basic and translational components. Our focus is largely to understand how components of the tumor microenvironment contribute to tumor growth, progression, metastasis, and resistance to therapy. We study cellular dialogues between cancer cell and immune cells and other stromal components like vasculature and fibroblasts. We examine signaling mechanisms within the context of tumor immunology or cancer cell survival to explore treatment resistance with the end goal of tumor eradication and clinical translation. But along the way, we let our curious minds wander in response to intriguing twists in the data as we pursue scientific knowledge.

Michael Knitz, MS - Research Associate

Mike received his Bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and his Master’s degree in Bioinformatics from Northeastern University. In Berkeley, he focused on immunology and biochemistry studies, and in his free time he raced triathlons and volunteered with kids of all ages as a camp counselor and science tutor. In Boston, he primarily focused his Master’s studies in genomics, statistics, and machine learning applications. After moving from California to Colorado, Mike joined the Karam lab and now works primarily on tumor immunology studies as well as RNA-Seq studies in human and mouse applications. In the future, he wishes to expand his knowledge in genetic and genomic applications in the context of oncology. Outside of research, Mike enjoys cycling, swimming, camping, chess, and the occasional relaxing afternoon in Cheesman Park in Denver.

Jacob Gadwa, MS - PhD Student

Jake is a Colorado native and attended Colorado State University in his hometown of Fort Collins. During his time at CSU he received both a Bachelor’s degree in biological science and Master’s degree in microbiology and immunology, all the while competing and serving as head coach of the CSU climbing team. After graduation he stayed at Colorado State, researching antimicrobial compounds for use against drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Jake joined the Karam lab in the fall of 2019 and recently matriculated into the Immunology graduate program. His research is currently focused on understanding how the tumor microenvironments of head and neck and pancreatic cancers modulate differential immune responses to combination radio-immunotherapies. Outside of lab, Jake is an avid climber and enjoys traveling, hiking, cooking, golf, and board games.

Jessica Beynor, BS - MD/PhD Student

Jessie grew up in Barnstable, MA before moving to North Carolina to earn a BS in Clinical Laboratory Science and a minor in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work first focused on supporting a large cancer clinical trial before she moved into the field of infectious disease where she supported trials primarily in HIV. After graduating, Jessie moved back to Boston where she worked as a research tech at Brigham and Women’s hospital. There, she worked on identifying host factors involved in the progression of tuberculosis disease. After joining the MD PhD program at CU Anschutz, Jessie joined the Karam Lab as part of the immunology program. She is now primarily focused on studying the role of sex differences in the development, response to, and treatment of HNC cancers. She is interested in applying to residency programs in otolaryngology after graduating. In her free time, Jessie enjoys spending time with her husband and cats, listening to musicals, rollerblading, and playing chess.  

Sophia Corbo, BS - PhD Student

Sophia grew up in Connecticut before earning her B.S. in Biology from Widener University in 2020. Her undergraduate work primarily focused on the molecular mechanisms that promote breast cancer aggression. Currently, Sophia’s research is focused on how Eph-Ephrin signaling promotes angiogenesis while suppressing immunosurveillance in the tumor microenvironment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. When Sophia is not in the lab, she enjoys hiking, going to concerts, sailing, paddle boarding, playing fetch with her dog, and getting together with friends.

Nick Olimpo, BS - PhD Student

Nick was born and raised in Philadelphia where he graduated from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience.  His undergraduate research work focused on how environmental stress impacts substance use disorder during adolescence.  Following graduation Nick's research interests shifted towards cancer therapy where he worked as a PRA for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia focusing on improving CAR-T efficacy in solid tumor models.  Currently, Nick is a member of the Cancer Biology program interested in studying the immune context of Head and Neck Cancer.  In his off time he enjoys gardening, cycling, and watching Formula 1.

Justin Yu, MD - Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgical Resident

Justin was raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and graduated from Duke University with a degree in biomedical engineering. He completed medical school at Baylor College of Medicine and is currently a resident physician in Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Colorado. He is interested in head and neck surgical oncology, and he has published in the fields of surgical outcomes research, quality improvement, and surgery in low resource communities. In the Karam Lab, he is currently studying the role of B-cells in head and neck cancer, with an emphasis on developing a model for better understanding HPV+ disease. Outside of work, he enjoys travelling, hiking in beautiful Colorado, skiing, fantasy football, and spending time with his wife in their new home

Benjamin Van Court, MS – Professional Research Assistant

Ben received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Engineering Physics at University of Colorado, Boulder, where he worked as a tutor and on image and signal processing research. He previously managed the image-guided small animal radiotherapy core and recently completed his M.S. in Bioengineering. He produces and composes music in his spare time.

Brooke Neupert, BA - Professional Research Assistant

Brooke is originally from Spokane, Washington, and earned her B.A. in Astronomy and Physics from Whitman College in 2021. Her undergraduate interests included supermassive black holes, cosmology, and dark matter particle physics. She joined the Karam lab in August 2021 as a PRA and is the manager of the Small-Animal Image Guided Irradiation Shared Resource. Her current research revolves around ways to improve the methodology of small-animal irradiation and CT scanning, and the analysis of CT scans. Outside of the lab, Brooke enjoys climbing, skiing, hiking, drawing, sewing, and playing Dungeons and Dragons. 

Chloe Hodgson, BS - Professional Research Assistant 

Chloe grew up in the front range of Colorado before moving to the west coast to attend Pacific Lutheran University. During her undergraduate studies, Chloe spent a semester doing research at Oxford University studying triple negative breast cancer migration and tubulin dynamics in metastasis. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Biology with an emphasis in Cancer Biology and joined the Karam Lab in the summer of 2023. She is interested in researching how endothelial cell antigen presentation impacts Treg infiltration into the tumor microenvironment, and how immunotherapy outcomes can be improved. Outside of work, Chloe enjoys exploring the outdoors with her dog, reading, writing, and playing the piano

Diemmy Nguyen, BS - Medical Student

Diemmy is currently a senior at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology as well as Spanish for Health Professions. Diemmy is also in the process of completing a Public Health Certificate. In the future, she aspires to attend medical school. She hopes to practice medicine in vulnerable and medically under-served  communities. In her free time, Diemmy enjoys working out, hiking, drawing, and spending time with her friends and family.