History
Jennifer Hope, PhD
Dr. Hope is an Assistant Professor at Drexel University in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology in the College of Medicine. She attended Ursinus College (Collegeville, PA) where she obtained her Bachelors in Science in Biology with a minor in Biostatistics. She first joined Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) as a PhD student in Dr. Peter Katsikis' lab where she studied the role of microRNA's in regulating CD8+ T cell responses to infection and cancer. Halfway through her PhD, she moved with the lab to Erasmus University Medical Center (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and completed her PhD studies abroad. In 2017, she joined Dr. Linda Bradley's lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys (La Jolla, CA) and began studying the underlying role of P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1) in the development of T cell exhaustion. She was a NIAID T32 postdoctoral fellow from 2018-2020 before obtaining an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship (2020-2022). In 2019, she and Dr. Bradley received an AAI Travel for Techniques Award to gain technical experience studying immunometabolism with Dr. Greg Delgoffe (University of Pittsburgh). At Sanford Burnham Prebys, she received the Eric Dudl Scholarship for excellence in cancer research and was the 2019 recipient of the Lenka Finci and Erna Viterbi Fishman Fund Career Development Award. In 2022, she was selected as one of twelve participants in the SITC Sparkathon program for emerging leaders in cancer immunotherapy. She is an advocate for increased funding for cancer research and participated in the 2023 AACR Early-Career Hill Day event.
Dr. Hope is an Associate Member of the Immune Regulation and Trafficking Program in the NCI-Designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC) consortium between Jefferson Health and Drexel University. She maintains memberships with AAI, AACR, and SITC.
The Hope Lab opened its doors in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Drexel University in March of 2023. Our studies are focused on understanding how intrinsic and extrinsic signaling drives T cell differentiation and responses to cancer and infection. We blend preclinical mouse models of cancer with evaluation of primary clinical samples to address mechanistic studies of underlying biology in anti-tumor immunity. In separate studies, we use mouse models of acute and chronic virus infection to understand drivers of T cell memory formation. Located in the heart of vibrant Philadelphia, we have established active collaborations with investigators at Drexel University, Jefferson Health, and the University of Pennsylvania. We maintain our long-term and productive collaborations with investigators at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the University of California, Moores Cancer Center, in San Diego, CA.