Zachary R
- Research Program Mentor
MD/PhD candidate at Northwestern University
Expertise
Cancer/Immunolgy
Bio
Hi! My name is Zachary Reinstein and I am current and MD-PhD student at Northwestern University. I first began my research in neurodegenerative diseases back in high school. From that point forward I caught the research bug. In my undergraduate at BYU I worked on developing novel immunotherapies for multiple cancer types. Here at Northwestern my project focus on a rare, but highly lethal cancer called Merkel Cell Carcinoma. I am looking at how we can overcome resistance to current immunotherapies. My curiosity also extends to a variety of other venues. Here in Chicago, I love exploring the 77 neighborhoods, each with their unique food, art and culture. I love biking, swimming, hiking, and reading. I served a mission for my church and lived in Mozambique/Swaziland for two years. I learned Portuguese and a bit of siSwati (clicks and all) while I saw research and health in a completely different context. It has inspired my work today!Project ideas
Unraveling the Tumor Microenvironment with Single Cell RNA-sequencing
Use data from the state-of-the-art techniques to derive novel insights about the variety of cells in the tumor microenvironment. Single-cell RNA sequencing allows for unprecedented data on patient tumor samples. With the avalanche of data, current studies can only report on a small fraction of actionable biology. Much of this data is publicly available, so you will access this data, analyze it with programs such as Seurat to derive new conclusions and make new hypotheses that will inform future therapeutic discoveries.
Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) and CRISPR to treat cancer
Design novel biologic immunotherapies to target cancer cells by using the latest genetic tools. CAR T cells are one of the most promising novel immunotherapies. Although they have shown significant success in blood cancers, they have struggled in solid tumors. In this project you will design novel CAR constructs, with the combination of CRISPR technologies to develop new CAR T cells to overcome these hurdles.