Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer, with most patients undiagnosed until the cancer has already spread.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Abbey seeks to harness the immune system to better detect and attack ovarian cancer. Because our immune cells are innately poised to eliminate threats in our bodies, they can be genetically rewired to specifically recognize and target cancer. Such immunotherapies work well for patients with blood cancers, but many technical challenges remain in making them effective for solid tumors like ovarian cancer.
Abbey plans to characterize the molecular changes in early ovarian cancer that enable cancer cells to spread, and to develop immunotherapies to stop this progression.
Abbey will pivot from Molecular and Cell Biology to Bioengineering