Ph.D. Candidate
Duke University
My name is Naveen Natesh, and I am a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Professor Shyni Varghese's lab in Biomedical Engineering, at Duke University. My work focuses on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cellular/molecular contributions of TME compartments to underlying tumor vasculature and intrinsic immune cell cytotoxicity. I design and utilize tumor-on-chip microfluidic models to study cancer immunology and the particular effects secreted factors or ECM have on phenotypes of interest, such as CD8 T cell cytotoxicity against tumors. I completed my B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley in 2019, performing my thesis work in the lab of Professor Henk Roelink while studying the Hedgehog Signaling Pathway.