About Karen 

I completed my PhD in Bioengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA, USA) in the lab of Dr. Andrés García. My doctoral work focused on the development and characterization of biomaterial-mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) constructs to enhance MSC immunomodulation and promote tissue regeneration in immunocompetent mouse models. During my PhD, I also developed expertise in analyzing the in vivo immune response to cell- and biomaterial-based therapeutics, including biomaterial-MSC constructs, biomaterial-based immunotherapies for islet transplantation, and biomaterial-delivered antimicrobial agents for bone infections.

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My experience exploring the importance of the immune system in determining the treatment outcomes of cell- and biomaterial-based therapeutics prompted my decision to persue a postdoc in immunotherapy. Thus, I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Cancer Immunology Department at Oslo University Hospital (Oslo, Norway) in the lab of Dr. Karl-Johan Malmberg. Here, my research focuses on engineering NK cell therapies to overcome translational hurdles related to allorejection and tumor immune escape mechanisms.

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My long-term research vision is to utilize biomaterials-inspired and genetic engineering approaches to develop next-generation, off-the-shelf NK cell therapies which are optimized for the treatment of solid tumors and readily available to the patients that need them.

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Outside of lab, I can be found exploring the Norwegian wilderness (on skis or on foot), rock climbing, or eating!