Bio

Allison Moores is a Research Assistant at the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Han Zhu, where her work focuses on T-cell activation and immune-mediated cardiotoxicity in the context of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Her research integrates prior experience in computational immuno-oncology with in vitro models of myocarditis to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving CD8⁺ T-cell–mediated inflammation in cardiac tissue. She previously conducted bioinformatics research at UC San Diego on glycosaminoglycan expression in pancreatic cancer progression, contributing to a study currently under review for publication in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. At Scripps Research, she supported ongoing oncovirology projects through PCR, cell culture, and sample preparation, with a focus on viral modulation of host immune responses. Moores is the first author of a published study exploring the hypothesis that HPV E6 may regulate PACSIN2 expression in cervical cancer independently of known transcription factors; for this, she used RNA-Seq data integration, GRNdb mining, and XGBoost modeling. She is also the founder of the Global HPV Vaccination Initiative—organizing and leading educational seminars and vaccination outreach across Mexico, El Salvador, and the United States. Moores is a rising senior at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, California who values integrative, cross-disciplinary approaches to complex biomedical questions.