Utilizing the immune system to develop novel therapeutics and vaccines to treat cancer and infectious disease.

Department of Physiology and Experimental MedicinePI: Dr. Theo Moraes• Contributed to multiple research programs investigating RSV therapeutics and the development of an contractile phenotypic cell from nasal brushings with developments in asthma research.• Developed a method for the isolation and characterization of primary nasal epithelial and fibroblast cells using nasal swabs from patients and cultured at an air-liquid interface. These cells can then be grown and used in co-culture to study various physiological functions related to asthma, CFTR and viral challenge.• Evaluated digoxin as a drug therapeutic to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and evaluated initial time of addition mechanism studies.

Princess Margaret Hospital, Cancer Research CentrePI: Dr. Naoto Hirano• Dr. Hirano’s lab focuses on developing T cell therapies for cancer, my projects within this goal was to develop a human based feeder system to differentiate human cord blood stem cells to T cells and to evaluate dynabead CD3 stimulation and transient CD3 presentation on T cell proliferation and persistence.• Designed a feeder cell line using K562 cells that had been modified using retrovirus infection and crisper-cas9 to express DLL4, ICAM and NGFR. Feeder cells were co-cultured with CD34+ human stem cells. Cells were analyzed for differentiation markers using flow cytometry.• Investigated proliferation of CD4/CD8 T cells using constant CD3 bead stimulation and an artificial antigen-presenting CD3 system. Human T cells stimulated continuously with dyno beads day saw reduced CD8 proliferation and CD62 presentation than did T cells stimulated transiently with transient CD3 stimulation.

Began with $3,000 funding from the Summer Company Program• Turned a childhood love of photography into a small business focused around corporate events and family portraiture. • Awarded $3,000 funding from the Summer Company Program, and associated mentorship and support from the Kingston Economy Development Corporation (KEDCO).

Assisted in a biomedical lab located in Queen’s University, aided with the research of Dr. Wu in investigating protein complexes responsible for deafness. Tasked involved culturing bacteria, creating gel samples, testing cell cultures in a sterile environment under UV light, PCR, analyzing data and results. Publication expected submission late 2014.

Acting as a computer technician responsible for diagnosing software and hardware issues and responsible for successful cleaning/repair of various issues, working a part of a 3 person team.