Neelam Mukerjee, Ph.D. was selected for an oral presentation and the AAI Trainee Abstract Award from the American Association of Immunologists.

The Trainee Abstract Award is a tiered award that provides a higher reimbursement award amount for members with multiple consecutive years of membership. As an AAI member in good standing for three consecutive years or more, she is eligible for up to $1,000 of reimbursement for registration and travel expenses associated with attending the AAI Annual Meeting – IMMUNOLOGY 2020 – held May 8-12, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The abstract that she will be presenting is titled “CCL2/CCR2 signaling protects against bladder cancer growth in a T cell dependent manner.”  Her abstract was selected for oral presentation in a Block Symposium at IMMUNOLOGY 2020. Dr. Mukherjee is also the recipient of the postdoctoral fellowship (Research Training Award) from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas.

She graduated in 2015 from the Cellular and Structural Biology program (focus on Cancer Biology). She was in the lab of Dr. Rita Ghosh. The overall goal of her work was to delineate the biological role of a novel protein methyl transferase, SETD6 in modulation of survival and NF-κB signaling pathway in bladder cancer. She also identified the natural product Palmatine isolated from the Chinese cork tree Phellodendron amurense as a SETD6 inhibitor and a potential therapeutic agent in bladder cancer.

After graduation, she joined the lab of Dr. Robert Svatek as a postdoctoral fellow. She is still working in the field of bladder cancer research. Her research is focused on characterization of rare immune populations and the recruitment and activation mechanisms of these immune cells that contribute to effective anti-tumor responses.

Interested in connecting with Neelam? Find her on gsbsalumni.com.