In response to persistent viral infection, CD8 T cells progressively lose their effector function, in a differentiation process coined T cell “exhaustion”. While recent evidence indicates that the pool of exhausted cells is comprised of multiple heterogenous populations, including a progenitor subset that can bifurcate into terminally exhausted or cytolytic effector cells, the molecular circuits underpinning CD8 T cell differentiation during chronic infection remains unclear. Using scRNA-seq and flow cytometry, I look to uncouple these molecular pathways identifying novel genes that are key in this terminal bifurcation process.

Honors/Awards

Graduate College Summer Fellowship (2026)

Publications

Kayla Reisch, Amanda Scherer, Rebecca Bartell, Fernando Santana, Peng Shao, Noah S Butler, Ryan Zander, CD7 drives CD8 T cell exhaustion during chronic viral infection, The Journal of Immunology, Volume 215, Issue 6, June 2026, vkag091, https://doi.org/10.1093/jimmun/vkag091