Center for Clinical and Translational Science

Ohad Bentur, MD, MHA

Mentor: Dr. Barry Coller

Laboratory: Allen and Frances Adler Laboratory of Blood and Vascular Biology

Research Interest: Dr. Ohad Bentur’s research interest is in thrombosis and hemostasis and has

involved clinical studies of venous thromboembolism and its prevention alongside basic research

in vascular injury and endothelial dysfunction.

Current Research Protocol Title: Identification of genetic modifiers that ameliorate the clinical

severity of patients with hemophilia

Bio: Dr. Ohad Bentur received his MD from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel and his MHA from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He completed his internal medicine residency and hematology fellowship at the Tel Aviv Medical Center, Israel. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Bentur will focus on molecular analysis of patients with bleeding disorders and genotype-phenotype correlation analysis in these patients. He will try to identify genetic modifiers in patients with less severe bleeding symptoms than expected based on the severity of their coagulation abnormality.

John Frew, MD

Mentor: Dr. James Krueger

Laboratory: Laboratory of Investigative Dermatology

Research Interest: Dr. John Frew’s research interest is the study of chronic inflammatory skin

diseases, such as hidradenitis suppurativa, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and alopecia areata, and

the primary immune mechanisms driving their development.

Current Research Protocol Title: Inflammatory mediators in hidradenitis suppurativa

Bio: Dr. John Frew received his MD from the University of South Wales, Australia. He completed his dermatology residency with the Australasian College of Dermatologists, Australia. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Frew will study Hidradenitis Suppurativa, a debilitating and largely neglected inflammatory skin disease. He will focus on the mechanisms of innate immune dysregulation with the goal of unravelling the complex contributions of genetic factors and environmental triggers such as smoking, obesity and metabolic syndrome. He will also examine the role of alterations to the microbiome in perpetuating the ongoing inflammatory cascade in this disorder with the aim of identifying and developing new treatments for this disease.

Christian Gaebler, MD

Mentor: Dr. Michel Nussenzweig

Laboratory: Laboratory of Molecular Immunology

Research Interest: Dr. Christian Gaebler’s research focuses on antibody-mediated

immunotherapy and the impact on HIV-1latency.

Current Research Protocol Title: Characterization of the intact HIV-1 latent reservoir by real-time PCR.

Bio: Dr. Christian Gaebler received his MD and completed his internal medicine and infectious disease residency from the Charité-Universitaetsmedizin, Germany. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Gaebler is studying broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV-1. Such anti-HIV-1 antibodies have been shown to effectively control virus replication in animal model systems and in human antibody treatment studies. His current research focuses on the characterization of the HIV-1 latent reservoir.

David Knorr, MD, PhD

Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey Ravetch

Laboratory: Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology

Research Interest: Dr. David Knorr’s research focuses on improving immune therapy of cancer

by activating CD40 on immune cells with specifically-engineered antibodies.

Current Research Protocol Title: A phase 1, open-label study to assess the safety and tolerability

of the Fc-engineered variant 2141-V11 in patients with tumors of the skin amenable to intratumoral injection.

Bio: Dr. David Knorr received his MD and PhD from the University of Minnesota. He completed his internal medicine residency research track at Weill Cornell Medical College and his hematology/oncology fellowship at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Knorr will focus on improving immune therapy of cancer by activating CD40 on immune cells with specifically-engineered antibodies. This has the potential to provide another class of drugs that can help the immune system attack and kill cancer cells.

Rochelle Maxwell, MD

Mentor: Agata Smogorzewska

Laboratory: Laboratory of Genome Maintenance

Research Interest: Dr. Rochelle Maxwell’s research interest is in gene mutations in the Fanconi Anemia pathway, and their contribution to oncogenesis.

Bio: Dr. Rochelle Maxwell received her MD from the Columbia University College of Physician and Surgeons, New York. She completed her pediatric residency and her pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Maxwellwill study genetic factors that increase susceptibility to both oncogenesis and cancer treatment-related toxicities. Her specific research interest is identifying the functional mechanism by which alternations in genes causing Fanconi anemia increase the risk of developing malignances.

Ying Wang, MD, PhD

Mentor: Kivanç Birsoy

Laboratory: Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics

Research Interest: Dr. Ying Wang’s research focuses on how mitochondrial dysfunction affects the cellular metabolism and behavior of cancer cell immunity, including cancer progression and metastasis.

Current Research Protocol Title: Mitochondrial DNA mutation and heteroplasmy in human thyroid cancer.

Bio: Dr. Ying Wang received her Bachelor of Medicine from Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, People’s Republic of China and PhD from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She trained in internal medicine at Fudan University Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital, Shanghai. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Yang will focus on how mitochondrial dysfunction affects the cellular metabolism and behavior of cancer cell immunity, including cancer progression and metastasis.