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Jessica W

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Duke University

Expertise

Immunology and immunotherapy in cancer

Bio

My name is Jessica Waibl Polania, I am a 5th year PhD candidate at Duke University. I am part of the Fecci Lab, whose goal is to develop novel therapeutic approaches that leverage the immune system to combat brain tumors. My major area of focus is immune interactions within brain tumors, which have led to limited success of immunotherapies thus far. Since my undergraduate research experience, immunotherapies have been my passion due to the dramatic improvement in patient survival for some hard to treat cancers that have been achieved with this approach. I was born in Bogota, Colombia and immigrated to the US when I was 4 years old. I am mostly fluent in Spanish, although my proficiency has decreased over time, hoping to practice more this year! Outside of work I am an outdoor enthusiast. I love traveling, hiking and backpacking with my dog, Koda!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Literature review of barriers to immunotherapies and recent advancements that combat these barriers.

Literature reviews are a great way to develop a better understanding of any given field. Therefore, diving deep into what is currently known and identifying more recent approaches into any topic (here I have used barriers faced by immunotherapies) is a great introductory project and way to get recognized in a field of interest. A great place to submit a review article is the Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI). https://emerginginvestigators.org/

Coding skills

R

Languages I know

Spanish, advanced

Teaching experience

As a highschool student, I mentored ESL elementary school students by helping with homework and afterschool activities. Similarly, as an undergrad, I mentored high school students to help with science homework and activities. My role was primarily to answer questions in math and science related tasks.

Credentials

Education

Ohio State University, Columbus
BS Bachelor of Science
Microbiology
Duke University
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Pathology

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