Name: Lauren Clubb
Hometown: McLean, VA
Hobbies: Hiking, swimming, paddle boarding, food!
Lab: Drs. Silvio Gutkind & Jill Mesirov
Lab website: https://gutkindlab.org/team/ & https://mesirovlab.org/
What do you study?
I want to understand how our healthy cells respond to cancer and how tumors can trick our bodies to support their own survival and growth. I am primarily interested in how the immune system (the same cells that fight bacteria and viruses) recognizes and reacts to cancer. I am interested in learning how immune cells and tumor cells communicate to see if there are ways that we can block interactions that suppress the immune system and promote interactions that support the immune system so that it can fight off cancer.
Why is it important?
Unfortunately, cancer is a major health problem in the US and around the world. Even after decades of research we still do not have effective treatments for many types of cancer and some of the best treatments only work for a small group of patients. It is important that we try to learn more about how our bodies and tumors interact so that we can interrupt any dysregulated communication to ultimately promote tumor killing.
What piqued your interest in science?
I started college choosing between literature and neuroscience, but once I took introductory chemistry and biology classes and got to work hands-on in a lab, I knew science was the path for me! I was especially drawn to understanding how things function and how these functions break down in disease.
What do you like about being a scientist?
I love the independence and freedom of being able to ask a question and seek the answer. Working in a field where we are searching in the unknown means that you get to shape the future of our understanding, and that is very exciting! It is also very rewarding, as we are ultimately working to introduce new or improved therapeutics and treatments to help patients with cancer.
What are 5 general vocabulary terms someone should know going into your field of science?
Anti-tumor response, cancer, inflammation, immunotherapy, immune cell
What are 5 specific vocabulary terms someone should know about your research?
receptor/ligand, immune cell trafficking, immunosuppression, tumor microenvironment, chemokines/cytokines