When Immunologist Brianna Naizir was a pre-health biology student at City College, she was certain in her interest to pursue medicine. To fulfill her requirements as a Macaulay Honors student, Naizir worked in Immunologist Dr. Bao Vuong’s research lab. Having never studied immunology before, working with Dr. Vuong ignited a spark in Naizir to continue studying the topic and apply her learnings to a disease context, specifically relating to cancer. While working in his lab, they studied the way B cells diversify antigen receptors, known as B cell class switch recombination. Her time at CCNY created the basis of her immunology understanding which she continued to expand as she progressed in her career.
After graduating CCNY as a Biology major, Naizir continued her training at NYU Langone Health as a Research Assistant. While there, she was able to contextualize her understanding of immunology in the context of cancer, and study the potential of aneuploidy to drive cancer immune evasion, the process where tumor cells grow and survive by evading the body’s immune system. This experience inspired her Ph.D. research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Schietinger. “I aimed to study cancer immunology, with a focus on T-cell biology. The main question that the lab was interested in is: why are T cells, one of the main effectors of the immune system,that are responsible for pathogen elimination, not functional in eliminating cancer?”
“Using my background in basic immunology from the Vuong lab, I moved forward and applied that to the context of cancer,” said Naizir. “I knew that I wanted to stay in the field of cancer immunology, and study why our body’s immune systems fail to eliminate the cancer.”
One of Naizir’s projects that she is most proud of is her PhD work which was published by Nature Immunology earlier this year. Throughout her PhD, she has studied the role of a transcription factor called TOX in the context of CD4+TH1 cells. “Previous studies in the lab found that TOX was associated with T cell dysfunction in CD8 T cells,I wanted to characterize its role in peripheral CD4 T cells and in this context, we found that it was actually critical for effector function,”said Naizir. “It took a lot of work, insights from my mentor, and collaborative effort to propel the story forward.”
As a woman in STEM, Naizir felt incredibly supported by the mentors she has encountered throughout her journey. “womenI have had the honor of being mentored by several inspiring women in science, especially my PhD advisor,” she enthused. “During my PhD, I was awarded the MSK Maria-Josée Kravis Women in Science Fellowship and it was great to know that there are many initiatives meant to support women in science”
“Collaboration is instrumental to our work, not only within our lab but also between labs as well. We’re always willing to help labmates and other labs that need something that we have expertise in.”
Naizir recommends that students embrace the uncertainty that may come with pursuing science. “I would definitely encourage future scientists to have flexibility because there are so many cool discoveries that historically have come out of unexpected data,” said Naizir. Adding, “Embrace the findings that don’t necessarily make sense to you at the time because thy may be an instrumental part of your project’s trajectory.”
Natalie Elysse Moreno is an interdisciplinary artist working to develop journalistic work through a creative lens. Natalie is an undergraduate student at The City College of New York, pursuing a double major degree in Journalism and Latin American Studies with a minor in English. While at CCNY, she has found her voice through storytelling, primarily enjoying writing articles centered on community and sustainability as well as creative essays about her life experiences. She’s had worked with Harlem View, the HIPE Network, BronxNet, and WHCR 90.3 Fm.