Our Mission

• Understand the grammar of myelopoiesis and how it is distorted in disease.

• Improve current treatment paradigms for solid cancers, by incorporating myeloid cell-targeting strategies.

• Make meaningful impact in lives of patients with cancer or in remission.

• Train the next generation of cancer immunologists with an activist mindset.

Our Values

1) Curiosity is celebrated
While our focus will always be on translational research aimed at improving outcomes for patients with cancer (see Mission statement), we will always remind ourselves that fundamental knowledge in systems physiology, developmental biology, and immunology undergird our discoveries and advances. Only through asking somewhat-naïve questions about how the body’s immune system develops and is designed to act in steady-state, can we start understanding what goes wrong or what gets co-opted in pathological conditions. In our lab, we will always strive to ask interesting ambitious questions, not let dogma dictate our work, and let the data drive us.

2) Collegiality will take us far
We are greater than the sum of our parts. In the lab, we will strive to work with our colleagues and build each other up with empathy. It is our collective responsibility to cultivate a kind, inclusive, and accessible atmosphere in which each of us can feel comfortable to grow AND ask for help. We are a team that will celebrate achievements together, and hopefully feels kinship to commiserate experimental failures/academic rejections/life events together.

3) Open Communication is key
We emphasize the importance of timely and clear communication in fostering a stellar scientific environment. Inextricably linked to a collegial culture, our lab members will feel empowered to ask for help, suggest changes, highlight issues, or call out inappropriate behavior. We also will not be tied down by hierarchy based on rank, which can often lead to uncomfortable power dynamics and hamper communication.

4) Diversity of People and Ideas is critical
Diversity is the bedrock of innovative research. In our lab, we welcome folks from all ethnicities, religions, orientations, identities, abilities, and training backgrounds. We will strive to make our lab space and environment welcoming & functional to all. We will constantly look inwards at our implicit biases, and we will constantly improve upon our allyship. This lab will categorically not tolerate bullying, bigotry, abuse, or harassment. Lastly, we will foster and encourage efforts to reach into our communities, so we can do our part in dismantling barriers faced by underrepresented folks in science research and medicine.

5) Science is Political
We firmly believe that science does not happen in a vacuum. It is our duty as scientists-in-training to be laser-focused advocates for why investment in biomedical research and medicine are invaluable to the global economy and quality of life. In this lab, we will work towards becoming better research ‘story-tellers’ but also effective communicators and action-takers. Serving our immediate community in the Bronx and being accountable to our stakeholders (public & foundation support) will be a core philosophy.

Please refer to our Lab Policy page for more details/guidelines.