Simone L. Park, PhD

I am an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania working in the research group of Dr E. John Wherry. My research investigates how immune cells known as T cells fight cancer and pathogens using a variety of cutting-edge scientific technologies, in vivo models and imaging approaches. I focus on a specialised population of T cells embedded in frontline tissues known as tissue-resident memory T cells, and study how T cells can become dysfunctional or exhausted during chronic infection or in tumours. My work has uncovered critical roles for T cells in protecting against viral infections and cancer and aims to understand how they could be targeted to improve disease treatments including cancer immunotherapy.