The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases, has appointed Amelia Escolano, PhD, and Nan Zhang, PhD, as Assistant Professors.
Amelia Escolano, PhD
Nan Zhang, PhD
Dr. Escolano’s research focuses on the development of novel vaccine approaches against highly mutating viruses. She will join the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center. “My laboratory will investigate the immune responses elicited by a new form of vaccination that involves sequential immunization. Our goal will be to identify guidelines for the design of efficacious vaccines that induce broad protection for prolonged periods of time,” said Dr. Escolano. “I also plan to establish collaborations with members of Wistar’s Cancer Center in order to explore the use of our sequential vaccination approaches against cancer-related viruses and tumor neoantigens.”
Dr. Zhang, who joins the Immunology, Microenvironment, and Metastasis Program of The Wistar Institute Cancer Center, studies the role of macrophages during ovarian cancer metastasis in the abdominal cavity. “Because of recent developments in macrophage research, these cells are known to be highly plastic and heterogenous, meaning that depending on their surrounding environment they can either promote or suppress tumor growth and form different subgroups that are very difficult to identify and to target pharmaceutically,” said Dr. Zhang. “My lab will use cutting-edge technologies to better understand the functional differences among these macrophage subgroups and eventually find a treatment plan for this devastating disease.”
Mentoring and Collaboration
“I’m excited to join an institution with such an important history of contributions to the vaccine design field and where my research can synergize with that of other outstanding members of the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center,” said Dr. Escolano. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to develop my own scientific ideas and create a community of researchers around them. It is my goal to transmit my passion for science to the new generations and train a solid group of researchers who will significantly influence scientific progress.”
“I have always admired the collaborative, world-class research environment at Wistar, particularly in cancer biology and immunology, and thought the Institute would be a perfect fit for me given my mutual research interests with other investigators,” Dr. Zhang said.
