Thaxton Lab | Lab Members

Jessica Thaxton, PhD, MsCR

Principal Investigator

Dr. Thaxton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Thaxton received her BA from Amherst College and her PhD from Brown University in Pathobiology & Immunology. Dr. Thaxton trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the field of ER stress and Immunity in the laboratory of Zihai Li, MD, PhD. During her postdoctoral work Dr. Thaxton held a Department of Defense Breast Cancer Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and obtained a Master's in Clinical Research in the study of clinical trials. As an Assistant Professor Dr. Thaxton’s work on tumor-induced ER dysfunction in tumor infiltrating T cells was supported by the NCI Paul Calabresi Clinical Oncology K12 Fellowship. The Thaxton lab has delineated negative roles for the PERK axis in T cell-mediated tumor immunity and continues to study how the solid tumor microenvironment undermines immune-mediated tumor control through dysregulation of ER stress signaling, ER structure, and proteostasis.

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Katie Hurst, MPH

Lab Manager

Katie graduated from Clemson University with a BA in Biological Sciences with a minor in Psychology. Katie’s interest in cancer biology led her to the Medical University of South Carolina after graduation to pursue a career in molecular cancer research, whereafter she transitioned into cancer immunology research. She holds a special interest in the patient psychological response to cancer and how the immune system can regulate this response and vice versa. Katie serves as lab manager for the Thaxton Lab during which she pursued her Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Health Behavior at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she graduated in 2020.

Genevieve Clutton, DPhil

Research Associate

Dr. Clutton received her BS from the University of Bath (UK) and her DPhil (PhD) in Immunology from the University of Oxford (UK). She trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Nilu Goonetilleke, PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, investigating CD8 T cell responses to HIV-1 and other viruses. She obtained independent funding to study T cell responses in the context of Kaposi’s sarcoma and obesity, which fueled her interest in the effects of metabolism on the efficacy of T cell therapies

Jessie Hem

Graduate Student

Jessie graduated from Williams College in 2021 with a BA in Biology. During her time at Williams, she wrote an undergraduate thesis in plant biochemistry, taught science to 5th grade students, and played varsity lacrosse. Upon graduating, she moved to Boston where she worked as a research technician for three years at Brigham and Women's Hospital studying myeloproliferative neoplasms. After starting graduate school at UNC, Jessie wanted to pursue the field of tumor immunology and metabolism and joined the Thaxton Lab. Jessie studies altered lipid metabolism as a result of chronic endoplasmic reticulum stress in tumor-infiltrating T cells with the goal of finding new targets to improve immunotherapy.

Lindsay Sheft

Graduate Student

Lindsay graduated from Boston College in 2023 with a BS in Biochemistry. At Boston College, Lindsay worked in the Student Admission Office, led community service trips, and mentored and served as a teaching assistant for younger students. After graduation, Lindsay worked as a Research Associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University for two years. She worked on generating novel patient-derived cancer cell models and identifying colocalized surface protein targets in specific tumor subtypes. In the Thaxton Lab, Lindsay studies how metabolic stress in the tumor microenvironment alters tumor associated macrophage metabolism and drives immunosuppressive functions.

Ryan Hagle

Graduate Student

Ryan graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022 with a BS in Biochemistry. During his undergraduate, he completed a senior thesis in a lab researching the role of neurons in zebrafish tissue regeneration. After graduating, Ryan moved to the DC area to work for two years at AstraZeneca on their Autologous CAR-T Process Development team. While there, he also took advantage of what the area had to offer including hiking, restaurants, and events/festivals. Ryan moved to Chapel Hill in 2025 to begin his PhD training in the Thaxton Lab through the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. His thesis work is focused on the immunometabolic role of the endoplasmic reticulum in human CAR-T cells.

Ayush Rana, PhD

Postdoc

Dr. Rana received his BS in Biology from Duke University and subsequently worked as a Research Technician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine. He earned his PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Miami under the mentorship of Dr. Scott Welford. His doctoral research identified polyamines as mediators of tumor-immune metabolic crosstalk in malignant brain tumors. Ayush joined the Thaxton Lab to pursue postdoctoral training with a research focus on immunometabolic reprogramming in the tumor microenvironment.

Bre Hewitt, PhD

Postdoc

Dr. Hewitt graduated from NC State University with a BS in Zoology and a minor in Genetics before receiving her PhD in Cell Biology from Drexel University. During her graduate studies in the laboratory of Dr. Ryan Petrie, she investigated how mitochondrial positioning and energetics are regulated during cell migration through three-dimensional environments. Her work focused on understanding how the cytoskeleton and distinct modes of cell migration influence mitochondrial distribution and function using quantitative live-cell and confocal microscopy. Bre joined the Thaxton Lab to apply her background in cell biology and advanced imaging to the study of immune cell function, with a particular interest in bringing advanced microscopy approaches to ongoing projects in the lab.

Lab Support Staff

Julie Millie Cal & Morrie Ozzy Bruin, Bauer, & Buddy Kona