Lab Members

Ethan Yin

Ethan is an undergraduate student studying Biology and Computer Science. He is interested in using spatial gene expression data and histology to better understand tumor heterogeneity and the tumor microenvironment, working on spatial transcriptomic data, including cell type annotation using marker genes, spatial pattern analysis, and integration with histologic features. In his free time, he […]
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Julia Louw

Julia is a PhD student in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) program at Duke. She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from UNC Chapel Hill and an M.S. in Computational Biology from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Her research interests lie in translational computational approaches to advance precision oncology and uncover mechanisms […]
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Laura Houghton

Laura is studying Chemistry and Neuroscience. She is super interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms behind cancer development and hopes to pursue research as a career. She was part of the Brain and Biological Sciences SURF 2025 summer program and she is continuing to work in the lab part time. Outside of her studies, Laura […]
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Andrew Kurlich

Andrew is a PhD student from Duke’s Developmental and Stem Cell Biology program. In 2022, he graduated from Denison University with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Computer Science. His research focuses on engineering tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes to improve their therapeutic potential for the treatment of glioblastoma. In his free time, Andrew enjoys swimming, […]
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Kelly Seagroves

Kelly started working in the Brain Tumor Center one year after graduating high school and has worked her way up from an entry level position to Administrative Assistant in the BTC.  She has been in the Brain Tumor Center for 32 years. She loves working here and with all her team members. Outside of work, […]
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Elise Nackley

Elise is a Duke undergraduate student studying Computer Science and Bioinformatics. She is currently working on modeling tumor-immune interactions in cancer immunotherapy, developing mathematical models to simulate how tumor cells and the immune system respond to treatments like PD-1 inhibitors and cellular therapies. Her research involves integrating clinical trial data with mathematical models that use […]
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Megan Benz

Megan is currently a first-year graduate student and a teaching assistant for Drugs and the Brain, an undergraduate course taught by Dr. Cynthia Kuhn. She completed her undergraduate studies at Tulane University, graduating in 2022 with a B.S. in Neuroscience. She remained in New Orleans for two years afterward, working as a lab technician in […]
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Jodie Jepson

Jodie is a PhD student in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Program at Duke University School of Medicine. Her research broadly focuses on applying computational modeling and spatial omics approaches to study cellular behavior and interactions within complex biological systems. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing tennis and hiking.
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Emma Pristo

Emma graduated from Northwestern University in 2024, where she studied neuroscience and political science with aspirations to attend medical school. At Northwestern, she was involved in basic-science research in cancer immunology and clinical research in pediatric epilepsy, through which she discovered a potential career interest in pediatric oncology. She is now an incoming MS1 at Duke […]
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Maya Chandar

Maya is majoring in Neuroscience and Computer Science with a minor in Sociology. She has trained in flowcytometry, working with in vivo models and developed skills in immunological assays in the context of brain tumors. She is also learning to analyze whole genome and RNA sequencing data.
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