Biological Sciences, Purdue University

Jessica Thaxton, Ph.D.

I received my PhD from Purdue University in 2024 in the lab of Dr. Jason Hanna. My dissertation work focused on characterizing tumor-suppressive microRNAs in angiosarcoma, a rare vascular cancer. I found that overexpression of an individual microRNA had potent tumor-suppressive effects and characterized the network of target genes that this microRNA regulated to elicit these phenotypes. During my time at Purdue, I enjoyed mentoring several undergraduate researchers, and being a TA in undergraduate biology courses. Before graduate school, I taught high school biology, which ignited my passion for teaching science. My postdoctoral work will be done in the lab of Dr. Jessica Thaxton, where I will study how macrophages remodel the tumor microenvironment and influence the efficacy of immunotherapies in solid tumors.