Ivan Reyes-Torres
PhD student
Ivan is a PhD candidate developing his thesis in the area of cancer biology and immunology. He did his bachelor’s in Biotechnology at Pablo de Olavide’s University (Spain) where he conducted research in the field of aging, studying age related gene expression changes in non-coding regulatory RNAs across different organs. His curiosity He pursued a Master’s degree in Personalized Medicine and Translational Research at the University of Granada (Spain) where he got interested in the field of cancer research and metastasis, basing his master thesis on the characterization of circulating tumor cells in breast and prostate cancer patients using mass cytometry (CyTOF) and digital PCR. He was then awarded with a Fulbright fellowship to pursue his PhD studies in cancer immunotherapy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Sinai where he became really interested in understanding the different molecular programs that myeloid cells activate in the context of solid tumor lesions thus joining the Merad lab to specialize in macrophage biology. His current research focuses on exploring novel mechanisms through which tumor associated macrophages limit anti-tumoral immune responses in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Fun facts about myself:
I quit pursuing a professional soccer career at Granada FC to do science instead. Rumor has it he’s as skilled with the ball as with a pipette…
I dream with winning a novel prize and completing an Ironman Triathlon. Currently in training for both!
Macrophages are truly my “spirit” immune cell type… We are both hungry - all, the, time.