Research Statement:
An important process that occurs in the thymus is the pruning of autoreactive T cells by either negative selection or diverting to a regulatory self-reactive T cell lineage; a process known as central tolerance. This process is critical to prevent autoimmune diseases and controlling inflammation. A common treatment for cancer is to use systemic cytoreductive therapies that target highly proliferative cells. The damage imparted by systemic cytoreductive therapies have been known to adversely affect populations that are critical for central tolerance. My research is focused on the development of regulatory T cells after systemic cytoreductive therapies.
Bio:
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and carry my heritage with pride and joy. I have loved science ever since I was boy reading comics and watching sci-fi films. The world of academia has allowed me to indulge in my curiosity and pursue “figuring out how things work” as a career. I eventually want to become a professor and help foster and nurture the innate curiosity we all possess. In my pursuit, I want to change the image of a scientist and help empower Latinx and non-native English speakers in the world of STEM. Siempre representando a mi isla del encanto!
Selected Publications:
Manoharan Valerio, M., Arana, K., Guan, J., Chan, S. W., Yang, X., Kurd, N., Lee, A., Shastri, N., Coscoy, L., & Robey, E. A. (2023). The promiscuous development of an unconventional Qa1b-restricted T cell population. Frontiers in Immunology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1250316
Geiger, K. M., Manoharan, M., Coombs, R., Arana, K., Park, C. S., Lee, A. Y., Shastri, N., Robey, E. A., & Coscoy, L. (2023). Murine cytomegalovirus downregulates ERAAP and induces an unconventional T cell response to self. Cell Reports, 42(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112317