Team

Eva obtained her PhD in Sciences (Molecular Biology) at the Universidad Autónoma (Madrid, Spain) in 1999. She conducted her post-doctoral studies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and Cold Spring Harbor laboratories, co-supervised by Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD PhD, and Scott W. Lowe, PhD. She joined the Department of Pathology at NYU School of Medicine in 2006 where she is currently a tenured professor and assistant dean for research integration. She has served as vicechair for the Department of Pathology and associate director for basic science for the Perlmutter Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Cancer Center. She has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, including reports at Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Cell Biology and Cancer Cell. She is a permanent member of the Cancer Molecular Pathobiology [CAMP] NIH Study Section. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and visiting NYC parks and museums with her husband and two children.

Andrey is a PhD student interested in developing prognostic models for early-stage melanoma metastatic dissemination. He received his bachelor’s in Human Biology from UCSD, as well a master’s in Biology studying honey bee innate immune priming and gut microbiome host-pathogen interactions. Subsequently he spent 3 years as a technician at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute performing high-throughput screening and molecular profiling of small molecule cGAS/STING agonists in primary human dendritic cells for enhanced antigen presentation in the tumor microenvironment. Outside of the lab Andrey enjoys reading and spending time in nature.

Pietro is a postdoctoral fellow who received his PhD in cancer biology at the Institut de génétique et de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire (IGBMC) in Strasbourg, France. Before that, he received his bachelor and master’s degrees in molecular genetics at the University of Milano Bicocca, Italy, where he focused his research on the gene regulatory functions of the transcription factor SOX2 in embryonic and pathological conditions. During his PhD thesis in France, Pietro’s interests in the dynamics of gene expression got seduced by the complexity of transcriptional dysregulation driving melanoma biology. Here, he discovered GATA6 and BAHCC1, two novel transcriptional regulators involved respectively in drug resistance and melanoma proliferation. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Hernando Laboratory, Pietro will seek to better understand which melanoma phenotypic states contribute to melanoma progression and which are the transcriptional regulators essential to maintain those states. Outside the lab, Pietro is addicted to food, gym and motorcycle and his dream is to do the route 66 on his Indian motorcycle.

Allie is a third year MD/PhD student investigating mechanisms of melanoma brain metastasis. Allie initially joined the Hernando lab as a member of the NYU Summer Undergraduate Research Program in 2016. After graduating from Duke University with a B.S. in Biology and completing her first half of medical school, circular RNAs were still on her mind, so she re-joined the lab for her PhD in spring 2019. Besides pipetting small volumes of liquid from one tube to another, Allie’s passions include breakfast food and rescue dogs.

Nicole is a third year MD/PhD student interested in dissecting the interactions between the immune system and melanoma brain metastases. She graduated with a B.S. and M.S. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Yale University in 2019. Outside of lab, Nicole enjoys baking and knitting, and she is a certified fitness instructor.

Maria Angeles is a postdoctoral fellow who obtained her PhD in biomedicine and molecular biology at the Instituto de Biomedicina de Seville (Spain). Maria carried out her PhD in Neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood tumor which arises from malignant neural crest cells during embryonic development. Neural crest stem cells (NCCs) are a very plastic and specially migratory cell population which indeed also give rise to melanocytes during physiological development. Indeed, it has been described that somehow, melanoma tumor cells can re-adopt a NCC-like phenotype which, due to their cellular characteristics, allow them to overcome therapy and eventually give rise to recurrence in melanoma patients. This previous findings lead her to got interested in the possible relevance of this population in significant melanoma clinical challenges such as therapy resistance, relapses and metastasis. In her non-scientific time, what Maria enjoy the most is spending quality time with her people and cat, trying new food or wine, dancing, running or any other activity which keep her away from the sofa.

Marija is a postdoctoral fellow in the Hernando lab working on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms around how and why melanoma cells metastasize to the skeleton to evade conventional therapies. In 2016, Marija graduated with a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in Biomedical Science from the University of Technology Sydney. Marija obtained her PhD from the University of New South Wales in 2022 where her PhD project explored cellular pathways that contribute to myeloma-induced bone disease, which was conducted at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Outside of work, Marija enjoys reading, baking, and visiting museums and exhibitions.

Dania is a first year graduate student in the Systems and Computational Biomedicine program. She is interested in studying interactions within the tumor microenvironment of melanoma metastasis. She received her Bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego majoring in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, and earned her Masters in Biomedical Informatics at NYU. Outside of the lab, she enjoys good food, running and traveling.

Fatemeh is a postdoctoral fellow who received her Ph.D. in Medical Genetics from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. She holds a master’s in Human Genetics and a bachelor’s in Cellular and Molecular Biology. During her Ph.D., she conducted research on the expression of EMT and stemness key regulatory genes and lncRNAs in the spectrum of skin cancers from basal cell carcinoma (which is less metastatic) to squamous cell carcinoma (which is moderately metastatic) and melanoma (which is the most metastatic skin cancer). She believes that reconsidering current models for studying metastatic and metastatic suppressive molecular pathways could provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of metastasis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she collaborated remotely with Dr. Robert Judson-Torres’ lab to gain a deeper understanding of epigenetic regulators in melanoma. Besides cancer research, Fatemeh has a keen interest in genetic diseases and collaborating with others. Currently, she is interested in identifying the key molecular and epigenetic drivers of melanoma brain metastasis. Fatemeh enjoys exploring cities, being in nature, and practicing yoga.

Amanda is a Research Associate in the Hernando Lab. She obtained a Bachelor degree in Biomedical Sciences, majoring in Clinical Pathology, from Anhembi Morumbi University, Brazil. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking for her family and friends, walking with her dog, and having picnics in the park. Amanda will be studying the molecular basis of melanoma metastasis, using a combination of genetic approaches and in vitro and in vivo models of melanoma.

Kylie is an MD/PhD student studying mechanisms of melanoma brain metastasis. She graduated from Vassar College in 2017 majoring in Biology, and Science Technology and Society. Kylie spent several years working as a research technician at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center studying mechanisms of resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non small cell lung cancer. She joined the NYU MD/PhD Program in 2020 and is interested in pursuing a translational research career in medical oncology. Kylie is also passionate about mentorship and is a co-founder of the RISE UP Program, which introduces NYC high school students from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM to the career pathway of a physician scientist. In her spare time Kylie enjoys playing classical music, science fiction and cooking.

Rachel is a PhD student interested in dissecting the intratumoral heterogeneity in melanoma and understanding its influence on metastatic dissemination. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Cambridge in 2022, majoring in Pathology (Cancer and Immunology). She also spent a year working as a technician at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore, where she worked on using humanized mouse models to understand the tumour immune microenvironment. Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys trying new food spots or defying gravity on the aerial silks.

Paola is a fourth year PhD student under the Molecular Oncology and Tumor Immunology track and is investigating how gene regulatory networks and microenvironmental communication networks define intratumor transcriptional heterogeneity in melanoma. She got her B.S. at UC Santa Cruz where she studied in the Haussler Lab and majored in Biomolecular Engineering and minored in Bioinformatics. Outside of lab, Paola enjoys playing soccer, traveling, and exploring the city with friends.