Laura Houghton

Pronouns: she/her

Current Research Project: One of my main areas of interest is cancer and understanding how different mechanisms which prevent the immune system from effectively attacking that cancer could be targeted. Currently, I am in the Khasraw lab, where I am involved with a project working to identify novel gene targets in CD4+ T cells (a type of immune cell) that could be modified to produce T cells which are better able to coordinate the killing of glioblastoma (brain cancer) cells. My other main area of interest is neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Parkinson's Disease/Lewy Body Dementia and Frontotemporal Dementia. I want to understand the cellular mechanisms driving the emergence and progression of these diseases so that we can develop treatments that stop those processes.

How they got involved with research: As I mentioned above, I got involved in research at Duke this past summer through the BSURF program, which matched me with Dr. Khasraw's lab. I did go through the process of applying to labs using Muser but was unsuccessful. I also did some cold emailing last spring and received an offer to join a lab; however, because I was less aware of the URS Assistantship grant at the time, as well as because of some other reasons, I ended up turning down that position. I am currently continuing in Dr. Khasraw's lab at least through this semester, while I evaluate whether I would like to stay there long-term.