Dr. Park studies tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM), a specialized population of immune cells that remain embedded in tissues and may provide long-term local surveillance against cancer recurrence. She aims to define the molecular programs that control whether these cells become potent anti-tumor defenders or dysfunctional exhausted cells. Her work could help create therapies that generate durable immune protection directly within tumors.
Dr. Park is already internationally recognized as a rising star in immunology. She has published first-author papers in Nature, Science, and Nature Immunology, received more than 45 awards, and secured substantial competitive funding early in her career, including being on the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 Science list. Originally from Australia, she was recruited to the University of Pennsylvania to train in the laboratory of E. John Wherry.
Mentors
E. John Wherry, PhD, Junwei Shi, PhD, Ben Stanger, MD, PhD
Projects and Grants
Defining and exploiting regulators of functional tissue-resident CD8+ T cell fate to enhance anti-tumor immunity
