Our Team

Salvia Jain, MD (Principal Investigator)

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Khyati Kariya, PhD

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Interest: Generation of novel immunotherapeutic approaches for T-cell lymphomas

I thrive to generate patient cures and therapeutics for T-cell lymphoma. I look forward to unraveling the molecular mechanisms involved in the tumorigenesis of T-cell lymphoma and finding the pertinent immunotherapeutics to cure the disease. In my free time, I love to spend time with my little one, reading or watching motivational books or videos with a cup of coffee and exploring new places on this beautiful planet.

Makoto Iwasaki, MD

Post-doctoral Fellow
Project: Investigating Super Enhancer Activities in T-Cell Lymphoma
I am a physician-scientist at Kyoto University, dedicated to translational research in hematologic malignancies. My current focus is on investigating super-enhancer activities in T-cell lymphoma, aiming to understand the regulatory mechanisms driving disease progression and identify potential therapeutic targets. Outside of my research, I cherish spending quality time with my family. I am also passionate about prioritizing my overall well-being through strength training and a balanced diet.

Leora Boussi, MD

Internal medicine resident
Project: Evolution of global outcomes for patients with T and NK/T-cell lymphomas in the contemporary era

I am passionate about providing compassionate and high-quality patient care. Outside the hospital, I love to cook and enjoy spending time with family and friends over a great meal. I also love spending time outdoors running, hiking, and swimming.

Shambhavi Singh, MD PhD

Internal medicine resident
Project: Correlating outcomes to transcriptomics for patients with T-cell lymphomas

I grew up in New Delhi, India and am coming back to Boston after an 8 year stint in Charlottesville, VA where I completed my MD/PhD at UVA.  I’m passionate about mentorship and inclusivity in medicine and science, and want to research the best ways to close healthcare disparity gaps in oncological care. Other things that bring me joy include my dog, discovering new restaurants and new recipes, live music, and trying to create ceramic art.

Maria J. Fernandez Turizo, MD

Internal medicine
I am interested in the field of malignant hematology, specifically lymphoma, and envision a career as an academic clinical investigator.  I enjoy cooking, traveling around the world with my family and friends, and playing the piano.

Angela Koh, MS

Medical student and research associate
Project: Incorporation of machine learning tools to predict outcomes for patients with relapsed/refractory T and NK/T-cell lymphomas

I’m a third year medical student at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Outside of TCL research, I love to try new restaurants in town and go to orchestra concerts.

Olivia Economides

Lab Manager

Olivia is a recent graduate from Tufts University School of Medicine with her Master’s in Public Health who is passionate about incorporating public and global health measurements in clinical trial research and is very eager to be joining the PETAL project! She spent some time as a research assistant for brain cancer research at Dartmouth and then assisted with lab management and administrative duties for two leukemia and lymphoma labs at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, tending to her Monstera plants, surfing, and in the winter skiing in the northern white mountains of New Hampshire.

Kusha Chopra, BS

After graduating from Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor’s in Neuroscience, Kusha started her research journey as a research assistant in a neuroimmunology lab at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Her interest in translational medicine after working in a teaching hospital and her aspiration to attend medical school in the future now brings her to the world of T-cell lymphoma where she will be working closely with the SIRPant project! She is eager and optimistic to use her time in the lab assisting in discoveries of therapies that directly improve patient prognosis and outcome! When Kusha is not involved in research, she spends her time taking as many dance classes as Boston has to offer, biking around the esplanade till she finds the sunniest spot to read fiction, bouldering when the weather outside is unforgiving, and spending quality time with her favorite people!

Josie Ford, BS

Clinical research coordinator
Project: Lymphoma biobanking and detecting MRD in T-cell lymphomas

Josie is thrilled to be conducting translational research in the Jain Lab, as she strives to pursue a career as a physician researcher, spanning bench to bedside to provide optimal care. Josie is passionate about preventative medicine and health equity for underserved populations. Josie graduated from Cornell University where she studied Nutritional Sciences and Global Health on a pre-medicine track. A Burlington, Vermont native, Josie can be found hiking in the mountains or cooking when not conducting TCL research.

Ronald Nemec, BS

Clinical research coordinator
Project: Lymphoma biobanking

Outside of research, Ronald is interested in pursuing a career as a physician and participating in outreach at local organizations to increase visibility within healthcare for people impacted by HIV/AIDS. He recently graduated from Cornell University, where he received a B.A. in Biological Sciences with a minor in Health Inequity. He is excited to explore different specialties within the medical field and continue to participate in unique research projects. In his free time, he enjoys skiing and cooking.

Sean McCabe

Clinical research coordinator
Hi everyone, my name is Sean McCabe and I am a recent graduate of Cornell University who is very excited to begin my new role in TCL research. During my time as an undergraduate student, I studied Human Biology, Health and Society with hopes of becoming a physician. In my free time I enjoy spending time with friends, thrifting, and exploring the outdoors.

Caroline MacVicar

Project: investigating cell enhancers in TCL PDX models. Caroline completed her undergraduate studies at Wellesley College, majoring in biological sciences on the pre-medical track. She enjoys performing translational research, as it bridges bench work with clinical practice. In her free time, Caroline likes to golf, read, and paint.

Select Collaborators

Michael Tolstorukov, PhD and Sung Rye Park, PhD
I & A Bioinformatics group at DFCI

Moony Tseng, PhD and Rebecca Deasy, MS
Cancer Cell Line Factory at Broad Institute

Aliyah Sohani, MD and Anna Rider, BS
Hematopathologist at MGH

James Lederer, PhD
Director CyTOF core at BWH

Devavrat Shah, PhD and Jessy Xinyi Han, BS
Machine Learning at MIT

Alumni

Andrew H Matthews
Faculty, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Robert Stuver
Hematology/Oncology Fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Mwanasha Merrill
Hematology/Oncology Fellow, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Nazila Shafagati
Hematology/Oncology Fellow, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Bimarzhan Assatova

Paul Shin
Clark University