Graduate Student Research Assistant
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Kristen Shema is an Immunoengineering PhD Candidate at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. With 4+ years of scientific growth in multiple biopharmaceutical R&D positions performing antibody discovery and preclinical development in combination with graduate education and research experience in Immunoengineering, she has developed a comprehensive, translationally-minded perspective and deep interest in advancing technologies pertinent to immunotherapeutic R&D. Her long-term research interest is centered around leveraging fundamental knowledge about cancer to develop the next generation of immunotherapeutics with improved efficacy across cancer subtypes and reduced off-target effects. By creating technologies to study aspects of fundamental cancer biology and how immunotherapies are affected by different cellular and secreted factors, researchers will be informed of the parameters critical to a given therapy’s success. Developing robust in vitro models such as the TLI-Ivatar that can effectively maintain critical immune populations and predict human disease outcomes will advance immunotherapeutic design.