Student Profiles

Emily graduated with high distinction from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology. While there, she worked in the lab of Dr. Marni Boppart,  investigating the 7 integrin as a therapeutic target in the prevention of age-related maladaptive changes observed in skeletal muscle tissue. The findings of this research culminated in the completion of her undergraduate thesis. After graduation, Emily worked as an NIH Postbaccalaureate Fellow in Dr. Christine Alewine’s and Dr. Ira Pastan’s labs in the National Cancer Institute, studying the use of recombinant immunotoxin therapeutics to treat cancer. An area of focus during this time was elucidating the mechanism of the synergistic activity of a mesothelin targeted immunotoxin with taxanes in pancreatic cancer. She has since started her MD-PhD degree at the Medical College of Wisconsin. As a physician scientist, Emily hopes to translate new cancer therapeutics to the clinic.