People

David A. Braun, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator

David is a physician-scientist, an Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Medicine, a Goodman and Gilman Yale Scholar, and a principal investigator in the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology within the Yale Cancer Center. He received his undergraduate degree at Princeton University in Molecular Biology with Certificates in Engineering Biology and Applications of Computing. He then received his PhD in Computational Biology from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and his MD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. During that time, he also served as the national President of the American Physician Scientists Association, and received the AMA Foundation Leadership Award and the Barry Coller Award for Excellence in Clinical Medicine. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and was selected as a Chief Medical Resident.

He subsequently completed a clinical fellowship in Medical Oncology and post-doctoral fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, where he was the Emil Frei Fellow, the John R. Svenson Fellow, and served as an Instructor of Medicine. He was selected to be part of the Department of Defense’s Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigator, the Immuno-Oncology Young Investigator’s Forum and the SITC Sparkathon for Emerging Leaders Igniting Innovation in cancer immunotherapy. In 2019, he was named a “NextGen Innovator” by HemOnc Today, in 2022 he received the Kidney Cancer Association “Trailblazer Award”, and in 2023 he received the “Young Physician-Scientist” Award from the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Through combined experimental and computational approaches, he aims to better understand the key determinants of anti-tumor immunity in order to develop novel therapies for patients with advanced cancer.

Jess Graham
Graduate Student

Jess is a Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) PhD student in the BraunLab at Yale. Jess is originally from Phoenix, Arizona, and she received her undergraduate degrees in Biosystems Engineering and Statistics & Data Science from the University of Arizona. While at the University of Arizona, Jess worked in the Hurwitz lab where she used computational tools to study viral signatures associated with colorectal cancer. Outside of classes and research, she enjoys hiking, crocheting, and watching horror movies.

Miya Hugaboom (she/her)
Postgraduate Associate

Miya is a postgraduate associate in the BraunLab at Yale. She is originally from Ballston Lake, NY. Miya received her undergraduate degrees in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Medicine, Health, and Society from Vanderbilt University. While at Vanderbilt, Miya worked in the Rokas Lab, where she used computational genomics approaches to study evolution and codon usage bias. In her free time, Miya enjoys volleyball, hiking, and making objectively bad art.

Harry Kane
Medical Student Researcher

Harry is a medical student in the BraunLab at Yale.  Before medical school, he worked as a research associate under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Gillette and Dr. Steven Carr at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where he used global proteomic profiling methods to study therapeutic vulnerabilities and drug resistance in lung and breast cancers.  He grew up in the New Haven area and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Yale College.  Outside of school and the lab, he enjoys skiing, hiking, tennis, and eating at local New Haven restaurants.

Soki Kashima, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher

Soki is a post-doctoral researcher in the BraunLab at Yale, a urologic surgeon, and a physician-scientist at Akita University in Japan. He graduated from Akita University, and then he received his PhD in Medicine from Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, completing his doctoral research in the Laboratory of Immunology at Kyoto University under the mentorship of Prof. Hiroshi Kawamoto. In doctoral research, he studied the efficacy of antigen-specific T cell therapies derived from iPS cells for renal cell carcinoma, using both in vitro and in vivo (orthotopic xenograft models in mice) models. After his PhD, he has continued his research and clinical work as urologist at Kyoto University and Akita University with mentorship from Prof. Osamu Ogawa, Prof. Takashi Kobayashi and Prof. Tomonori Habuchi. He has an extensive research skillset in analyzing immune cell function and phenotype, measuring cytotoxicity of T cells, and in  patient-derived xenograft mouse models. In the BraunLab, he is using immunogenomic and functional approaches to dissect the tumor microenvironment and understand mechanisms of immunotherapy efficacy in renal cell carcinoma. At leisure, Soki likes to travel and enjoy local culture and local cuisine.

Chris Labaki, MD
Postdoctoral fellow
Co-Mentors: David Braun (Yale) | Toni Choueiri and Eli Van Allen (DFCI)

Chris is a postdoctoral research fellow and computational biologist, co-mentored by David Braun (BraunLab @ Yale) and Toni Choueiri and Eli Van Allen (Dana-Farber). He received his MD degree in 2020 from the Saint Joseph University in Beirut. Chris works on clinical and translational research projects related to Genitourinary Oncology, with a focus on renal cell carcinoma (RCC). His current research is related to the identification of genomic and transcriptomic determinants of response and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors in RCC, and the molecular characterization of rare forms of kidney cancer.

Katrine Madsen
Medical Student Researcher

Katrine is a researcher in the BraunLab and a rising medical student at Yale with an interest in oncology. She received her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology, with an emphasis in Immunology and Pathogenesis. During her time there, she worked in the laboratory of David Raulet, where she studied Natural Killer cell receptor expression using mouse models. Prior to coming to Yale, Katrine spent a year working as a research technician at Huntington Medical Research Institute studying the role of the Choroid Plexus in migraine. Outside of school, Katrine enjoys visiting her family in Denmark, beach days, and being a plant mom.

Alia Meliki, MS
Postgraduate Associate

Alia is a postgraduate associate in the BraunLab at Yale. She is from Malaysia and graduated from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a BS in Biology, Health & Society and MS in Bioinformatics. During her undergraduate degree, she researched on characterizing UBQLN2 mutants in familial ALS and FTD. She has also worked on preprocessing of large-scale bulk and single-cell genomics data. She is interested in learning and using computational tools to analyze biological data. Outside of lab, Alia enjoys traveling, cooking and going to concerts.

Vivien Moritz
Postgraduate Associate

Vivien is a postgraduate associate in the BraunLab at Yale. She graduated from The University of California, Los Angeles with a major in Biology and a minor in Society and Genetics. While in school, she worked as a medical assistant for a multidisciplinary private practice and served as a research coordinator for a healthcare quality improvement organization at UCLA. In her free time, Vivien enjoys rock climbing, crafting, and cooking.

Deepak Poduval, PhD
Associate Research Scientist / Computational Biologist

Deepak is a computational biologist and an associate research scientist in the BraunLab at Yale. He is originally from a small town in Kerala, India. He did his undergraduate work in biotechnology and his post-graduate work in bioinformatics from Amrita University, Kerala, India. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Clinical Science at the University of Bergen, Norway, under the guidance of Prof. Stian Knappskog. During his Ph.D., he used various next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analyses to understand the genetic and epigenetic characteristics of breast cancer and melanoma. He briefly went back to India after his Ph.D. to work as a bioinformatics scientist at a genomics service company, Clevergene Biocorp Pvt. Ltd. During his time in the company, he gained extensive experience in genomics service settings, including client project handling and management. Also, he had worked with several genomics services, including whole-genome sequencing of novel organisms and metagenomics. Before joining BraunLab, he worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow with Dr. Motoki Takaku in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the School of Medicine and Health Science at the University of North Dakota. In his previous role, he focused on understanding the function of transcription factors and chromatin modelers in gene regulation and the process's role in cancer with the help of single-cell genomics. Out of the lab, Deepak enjoys movies, spending time with his family, and playing sports.

Katherine Sadak
Postgraduate Associate

Katherine is a postgraduate associate in the BraunLab at Yale. Katherine is originally from Glastonbury, CT. She recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from Union College in Schenectady, NY where she received a Bachelor of Science in Biology with Honors and a minor in Spanish. At Union, Katherine was on the field hockey team, and received the Union Scholar Athlete of the Year award. Katherine was an active member of the Union community, involved in several clubs and organizations on campus. She also was involved in undergraduate research in biochemistry resulting in a thesis titled: Expression of Type II Metacaspases from the Fungus Schizophyllum Commune. Katherine was on the pre-medical track with an aspiration to attend medical school and is excited to assist Dr. Braun with translational research to strengthen her foundation and realize her career objectives.

Nicholas Schindler
Research Associate

Nick is a research associate in the BraunLab at Yale. Prior to moving to Yale, Nick worked as a research technician in the laboratory of Dr. Catherine Wu at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he optimized methods for patient-derived models of the tumor microenvironment. He also gained considerable experience in sequence analysis, cloning of T cell receptors, and analyses of T cell responses. Prior to Dana-Farber, Nick worked as a research technician in the laboratory of Dr. JoAnne Flynn, where he assisted in studying immunologic responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in non-human primate models. Outside of work, Nick enjoys traveling, climbing, and the beach. 

Hanna Soulati
Postgraduate Associate

Hanna is a postgraduate associate in the BraunLab at Yale. Originally from Maryland, Hanna recently graduated from Princeton University with a major in Molecular Biology and minor in Global Health and Health Policy. Previously, she worked in the Gitai lab and her senior thesis research focused on exploring the antibiotic potential and mechanism of action of a novel small molecule candidate. Outside of the lab, Hanna enjoys tennis, board games, and trying new coffee or ice cream shops.

Renée Maria Saliby, MD
Postdoctoral fellow
Co-Mentors: David Braun (Yale) | Toni Choueiri (DFCI)

Renée Maria is a postdoctoral research fellow at the BraunLab (Yale) and the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute). She completed her medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine of Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon, in July 2021 and graduated in the 90th percentile. Renée Maria concomitantly worked as a part-time research assistant in a translational laboratory at the same university (Laboratory of Biomechanics and Medical Imaging), where she had the chance to collaborate with the world-renowned references in the field: The Biomechanics Laboratories and Orthopedic surgery departments of Arts et Metiers ParisTech (Paris, France) and Hospital for Special Surgery (New York, USA). She obtained a Master of Science in Biomechanics with a  thesis focused on finding the determinants of quality of life among radiographical and gait parameters in patients with Adult Spine Deformity. During her studies in Lebanon, Renée Maria was part of the student council, several clubs and organizations, and an asset at the University Hospital during the tragic events that Lebanon witnessed in the last two years. Her current work focuses on characterizing the genetic and epigenetic landscape of patients with kidney cancer through innovative techniques. Renée Maria also enjoys traveling, reading, and swimming.

Frankie Scallo
Graduate Student
Co-Mentor: David Braun (Yale) | Jeffrey Ishizuka (Yale)

Frankie is PhD student in the BraunLab and Ishizuka Lab, and part of the Translational Molecular Medicine, Pharmacology, and Physiology Track and Program in Translational at Yale. He received his B.S. in Biology and Psychology from The College of New Jersey in Spring 2020. Before coming to Yale, he worked in the lab of Alexander Valvezan at Rutgers University studying how mTORC1 activity is regulated throughout cell cycle progression in non-malignant and tumor models. Now, he is interested in discovering new therapeutics leveraging the immune system that can be implemented in the clinic. Frankie spends his time camping, hiking, and finding the nearest bar trivia when not in the lab.

Lena Wirth
Graduate Student

Lena is an Immunobiology PhD student in the Braun lab at Yale. She received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Seattle Pacific University. Prior to coming to Yale, she worked as a research technician in Philip Greenberg’s lab, where she used novel T cell engineering approaches to enhance T cell effector functions for adoptive cell therapy. Outside of the lab, Lena enjoys hiking, climbing, and playing board games.

Ayjha Brown
Visiting Undergraduate Student (Emory University) – Summer 2023

Ayjha was a Yale BioMed Amgen Scholar who will be conducting research with the Braun Lab this summer. Ayjha is originally from Montego Bay, Jamaica. She is now a rising senior at Emory University majoring in Chemistry. At Emory, she works in the Henry Lab at Emory School of Medicine where she studies the impact of obesity on the immunogenicity of triple-negative breast cancer cells. In her free time, she enjoys fitness, hiking, trying new restaurants and

Zhaochen Ye
Visiting Undergraduate Student (Peking University) – Summer 2023

Zhaochen was a visiting undergraduate student in the BraunLab at Yale. Originally from Peking University, he is a junior majoring in Bioinformatics. During his time at Peking University, Zhaochen worked under the guidance of Dr. Zemin Zhang and performed analysis on single-cell transcriptomics to identify cell modules associated with response and resistance to immune checkpoint blockades in colorectal cancer. This experience ignited Zhaochen's passion for unraveling the intricate dynamics of the tumor microenvironment. Outside of his research pursuits, he enjoys watching movies, listening to pop songs, swimming and making some beautiful but not always tasty desserts and drinks.