Our Team

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Alice Kamphorst

Alice O. Kamphorst, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Oncological Sciences at the Precision Immunology Institute. She is also a member of the Cancer Immunology Research Program at the Tisch Cancer Institute.

Originally from Brazil, Alice O. Kamphorst completed her Master Thesis on Mucosal Immunology/Oral Tolerance (mentored by Dr. Ana Maria Caetano Faria).

Then Alice moved to the USA to pursue her Ph.D. at The Rockefeller University. Mentored by Dr. Michel Nussenzweig, Alice’s thesis was on antigen presentation and dendritic cell biology. In her post-doctoral studies, Alice worked on T cells and PD-1 immunotherapy with Dr. Rafi Ahmed at Emory University.

Her current research focus is on T cell differentiation with a specific interest in situations of chronic persistent antigen stimulation, such as in cancer and chronic infections.

  • Etienne Humblin

    Etienne Humblin

    Etienne is a postdoctoral fellow from France.

    During his Ph.D., he investigated the transcriptional programs supporting the differentiation and anti-tumor properties of CD4 helper T cells.

    He joined the Kamphorst lab in 2018 with a strong interest in understanding how chronic antigen stimulation, such as in cancer, alters T cell function.

    Taking advantage of mouse models of chronic viral infection and tumor, he studies how costimulatory molecules modulate maintenance and differentiation of exhausted CD8 T cells.

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  • Verena Van Der Heide

    Verena is a joint postdoctoral fellow in the Kamphorst and Homann labs in the Precision Immunology Institute at Mount Sinai.

    Her research interests focus on the induction, regulation, and modulation of CD8 T cell responses in the context of acute and chronic viral infection as well autoimmune disease.

    Verena investigates how contact with antigen-presenting cells shapes the differentiation and maintenance of specific CD8 T cells during chronic antigen exposure.

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  • Abishek Vaidya

    Abishek is a Ph.D. Student in Immunology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

    He studies the differentiation of PD-1+ CD8 T cells into functional effector-like cells, including the helper role of CD4 T cells in the context of cancer and chronic infections.

    Before joining graduate school. He earned his Masters's in Biotechnology and further worked on developing and generating CAR T cells, CAR-NK Cells, and Bispecific T-Cell Engagers for different immunotherapy modalities.

    He enjoys trail running and scuba diving.

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  • Nataliya Prokhnevska

    Nataliya is a postdoctoral fellow from Atlanta, GA

    She completed her PhD at Emory University in the Kissick lab. Focusing on CD8 T cell differentiation in response to cancer, specifically on tumor-specific CD8 T cell activation within tumor-draining lymph nodes.

    Her research interests focus is on understanding how CD8 T cell function is altered by the tumor microenvironment. She is working on how signals from antigen presenting cells and helper CD4s effect CD8 T cell differentiation and function in both cancer and chronic viral infections.

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Lab Alumni

  • Isabel Korpas

    Associate researcher

    Current position: PhD Student at Rockefeller University

  • Sarah Cheng

    Volunteer

    Undergraduate student : Brown university

  • Simon Goldstein

    Associate researcher

    Current position: The microscopy and histology core Facilities at La Jolla Institute of Immunology.

  • Ashley Lu

    Master Student and Associate researcher

    Current Position: PhD Student at Mount Sinai school of medicine

  • Laila Horta

    Postdoctoral fellow

    Current position: La jolla Flow Cytometry core

  • Alessandra Soares Schanoski

    Research Staff

    Current position: Research staff at RVAC medicines