People

Dr. Qiwei Wang received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the lab of Dr. Bo Liu in 2016, where he identified novel mechanisms underlying cell death and chronic inflammation in vascular diseases. Dr. Wang completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Jean Zhao at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School. During his postdoctoral research, he focused on the intersections of immunotherapy and targeted therapy in cancer treatment. His research underscores the importance of the suppressive innate immune cells, such as macrophages, in mediating resistance to targeted therapies in breast and lung cancers. He developed novel strategies to harness the anti-tumor potential of macrophages and combined them with targeted therapy to induce tumor regression and protective immune memory. Dr. Wang received a number of fellowships and awards, including American Heart Association (AHA) Predoctoral Fellowship, Cancer Research Institute (CRI) Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship, Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Department of Defense (DoD) Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Breakthrough Award. Dr. Wang joined the faculty of the Division of Cancer Biology as an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School in 2023. In January 2024, Dr. Wang launched his independent laboratory at the University of Virginia as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology. He aims to build a highly collaborative, diverse, and innovation-driven research team to study oncogenic signaling and immunosurveillance.

Sophie O’Keefe
ugp9ke@virginia.edu
B.S., The University of Chicago

Sophie graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Science in Biology specializing in immunology. She then worked as a research technician in the lab of Dr. Minah Kim at Columbia University studying the role of vascular immune crosstalk in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. She is now a BIMS graduate student in the lab of Dr. Qiwei Wang. Her research focuses on exploiting both tumor cell-intrinsic factors and the tumor immune micronenvironment to improve therapeutic outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer. 

Jackie Helen Edmonds
eqv6pe@virginia.edu
B.S., Washington State University

Jackie graduated from Washington State University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a minor in Genetics and Cell Biology. Prior to starting graduate school, she worked at the Allen Institute for Cell Science where she used human-induced pluripotent stem cells as a model of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition. In the Wang Lab, Jackie is studying oncometabolism and STING-mediated immune surveillence in breast cancer. In her free time, she enjoys baking, yoga, knitting, and hanging out with her cat Bentley.

Marcus Jerryd Meade
Lab Technician
mjm6mv@virginia.edu
B.S., University of Virginia’s College at Wise

Jerryd obtained his B.S. in Biochemistry. Jerryd loves to learn new laboratory techniques in microbiology and immunology and aspires to apply knowledge gained from lab technician roles toward graduate school in the future. In his spare time, Jerryd enjoys reading, cooking, and caring for his dog Muffin.

John Theodore Drakakis
yct5ch@virginia.edu

John is planning on pursuing Global Public Health with a minor in Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, class of 2029. He is particularly interested in cancer biology and hopes to utilize the knowledge and experience gained in the Wang lab to aid in his pursuit of a career in oncology. In his free time, John enjoys spending time with his friends and family, playing sports, and trying new things.

Dhillon Taylor Parikshak
Dhillon was an undergraduate researcher in our lab from 2024–2026. He went on to pursue his MD at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Hannah Elaine Harkins
Hannah was an undergraduate researcher in our lab from 2024–2026. She continued her training in Dr. Tara Barron’s lab at UT Southwestern as a research technician.

Jun Lin, Lab Specialist (2024)

Bayli Locklear, Summer Intern (2024)