I have been working in PIGI Lab since February 2021 as Research Specialist. Before joining PIGI Lab, I have completed my Bachelor and Master of Pharmacy from Bangladesh then I completed MS in Pharmaceutical Science from Rowan University/CMSRU wherein my thesis was in preclinical drug development for treating neuropsychiatric disorder. I do have tremendous interest on drug discovery, more specifically pre-clinical drug discovery for treating cancer. There are chemotherapeutical drugs available and most of those are not capable of targeting only cancer cells. Scientists have been working on developing target based loco- regional therapy to treat specifically target tumor. One of the major ideas of PIGI Lab is to improve and develop new therapeutic methods to treat target tumor by minimally affecting non target cells which enticed me to learn and contribute to this pioneer research. My project in PIGI lab is working on rodent model to treat HCC by minimally invasive loco-regional therapy, known as trans-arterial embolization (TAE) with different particles, nano-particles, hydrogel often with the combination of traditional and novel anti-cancer drug molecules. In this project we regularly use T-2 weighted MRI, sometimes T-1 weighted MRI, ultrasound to stage tumor and image guided technology to precisely embolize the target tumor. We also analyze harvested tissue through IHC and other molecular techniques. Other than my lab- life, I enjoy workout, playing Cricket, and spend time in nature.

Erena completed her bachelor's in Biotechnology in Bangladesh. She is currently pursuing her master’s in biotechnology at UPenn and has been a part of PIGI lab since January 2023. She is working with David Tischfield on his project, where she is investigating the role of leucine metabolism in cancer development and characterizing the tumor immune microenvironment in humanized PDX models of HCC. Her research interests are in cellular immunotherapy, particularly in CART cell therapy. Outside of academic life, Erena likes hiking, exploring new places, and going on adventures. Traveling the world one day is on her bucket list.

I have a broad interest in conditioning the tumor microenvironment to generate targetable dependencies that may be exploited when developing cancer therapeutics. Trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a locoregional therapy that combines embolization of the hepatic artery with intra-arterial chemotherapy and is the most common procedure to treat liver cancer patients that are not eligible for a transplant