profile picture

Spencer B

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of California San Diego (UCSD)

Expertise

Cancer Immunology/Immunotherapy, Cancer Biology, Immunology, Virology, Infectious Disease

Bio

My name is Spencer and I am a PhD candidate at the University of California, San Diego! I have been passionate about biology since I was in high school and have spent the last seven years studying the immune system and how it defends us from viruses, bacteria, and even cancer. Specifically, my doctoral work focuses on understanding the role of CD4 "helper" T cells in effective cancer immunity and immunotherapy. When I'm not in the lab, I enjoy playing tennis, playing guitar, surfing, and spending time with my friends! I have always had an interest in mentoring and enjoy sharing my insights into the field of biology, a field that I have been fascinated with for over a decade!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Vaccines of the Future

In this project, students will explore the intricacies of vaccine design and how to build better vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. Students will develop an understanding of the following: What are the components of a vaccine? What are the different vaccine platforms currently being studied and their advantages/disadvantages? What are the key differences between the vaccines we develop to prevent infectious diseases and therapeutic cancer vaccines?

Teaching experience

I completed my teaching assistant requirement for my graduate program in which I worked as a teaching assistant for an upper level undergraduate Virology course. In addition to grading and helping to write exams, I ran two weekly discussion sections with groups of 10-12 students where I put together my slide presentations to revisit challenging topics from the week's lectures.

Credentials

Work experience

Boston Children's Hospital (2014 - 2017)
Research Assistant

Education

Clark University
BA Bachelor of Arts (2014)
Biology
University of California San Diego (UCSD)
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Biomedical Sciences

Interested in working with expert mentors like Spencer?

Apply now