Inside Cancer Research: From Questions to Discovery 

At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, I contributed to research exploring how tumor heterogeneity and antigen editing may enable cancer cells to evade immune responses and affect the success of next-generation cancer vaccines. Using tumor-bearing mouse models, our project compares responders and non-responders to investigate molecular differences associated with treatment outcomes.

Through experiments involving tumor tissue, DNA and RNA analysis, and a multiplex panel of molecular biomarkers, I gained firsthand experience with the research process—from asking a focused question and carrying out laboratory methods to analyzing data and considering what the results can, and cannot, tell us. The experience deepened my interest in cancer biology and showed me how carefully designed experiments can help turn fundamental biological questions into insights with potential clinical relevance.