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Katelyn Byrne, PhD

Parker Senior Fellow

Biography

Katelyn T. Byrne, Ph.D., is a newly appointed Parker Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and an Instructor of Medicine in the Hematology/Oncology Division in the Department of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. She received her B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Boston University and her Ph.D. in Immunology from Dartmouth College, where she trained with Dr. Mary Jo Turk, Ph.D., studying T cell memory against shared tumor-/self-antigens in melanoma.

Dr. Byrne completed her post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Robert Vonderheide, M.D., D.Phil., investigating the mechanism of T cell activation with combined chemotherapy/CD40 stimulation in pancreatic cancer. Her interests in cancer immunotherapy include identifying the repertoire of antigens targeted by the anti-tumor T cell response and the mechanisms by which cancer-specific T cells access immune-privileged tumor sites. Dr. Byrne’s current research utilizes a genetically engineered mouse model of pancreatic cancer to investigate the dichotomy between treatment responders and non-responders, including alterations in T cell trafficking to tumors and changes in tumor-antigen presentation after therapeutic intervention.

Education & Training

  • 2007: Boston University, Boston, MA, B.A., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • 2012: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, Ph.D., Tumor Immunology
  • 2012-2016: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Post-doctoral Fellowship, Tumor Immunology
  • 2016-present: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Instructor in Medicine and Parker Senior Fellow

Awards & Honors

  • 2019: Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Inaugural Women in Cancer Immunotherapy Network Leadership Institute Attendee
  • 2016: Parker Senior Fellow, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
  • 2014: American Cancer Society Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship
  • 2013: National Institutes of Health Hematology Training Grant
  • 2012: Dartmouth College Office of Graduate Studies Award
  • 2011: Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation Research Scholar Award
  • 2011: Dartmouth Immunology Program Funding Award
  • 2010: National Institutes of Health Immunology Training Grant