Lab Members

Ángel Garza Reyna

Ángel is a Latinx First-Generation, Low-Income (FGLI) student trained broadly in immunology and cancer working to advance the field of Z-DNA. He graduated with Distinction in Chemistry from Duke University in 2021, with a minor in Biology and a concentration in Biochemistry. He is a QuestBridge Scholar and a Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP) – Amgen […]
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Laura Houghton

Laura is a rising sophomore at Duke University, 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 is grateful to be here as part of the Brain and Biological Sciences SURF program. Outside of her studies, Laura enjoys gymnastics, […]
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Olivia Amodeo

Olivia Amodeo is a Duke-PRIME Cancer Research Program Scholar in the 2024 cohort and is returning as a Peer Mentor helping support the success of the next cohort. Olivia is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Connecticut studying Molecular and Cell Biology in the Honors Program. She is actively involved in cancer research […]
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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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