Born and raised in Wisconsin, Kayla is a fourth-year PhD candidate in Immunology under the mentorship of Dr. Ryan Zander. Her interest in science started at an early age, inspired by her father who is a molecular biologist. This led her to pursue her bachelor’s degree in biology at Wartburg College as well as multiple summer internships working at AbbVie. During one internship, she studied immune exhaustion in HIV patients and has loved the topic ever since.

This led her to Iowa to pursue her PhD in Immunology where her research focuses on identifying novel regulators of CD8 T cell differentiation during chronic antigen exposure. The long-term goal of her thesis work is to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate CD8 T cell exhaustion and aid in the development of improved immunotherapeutic targets that better promote viral and/or tumor control in patients. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in pharmaceutical research and continue using her knowledge to advance cancer immunotherapies.

Beyond her work in the lab, Kayla values time spent with friends and family. She is a big football fan and always cheering on her two favorites teams, the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kayla also has two cats, Miso and Asher.