Darwin Ye Parker Scholar Early Career Researcher Biography Darwin Ye is a Parker Scholar and PhD candidate in Cancer Biology training in the laboratory of Andy Minn, MD, PhD, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Ye has developed expertise combining mouse modeling with state-of-the-art technologies in lineage tracing and single-cell sequencing to understand: What drives cancer cells to become resistant to immune checkpoint blockade therapies How tumors can be therapeutically targeted to either prevent or disrupt the process by which cancer cells evolve to become resistant Ye’s current research focuses on modeling a clinical trial of immune checkpoint blockade in lung cancer patients at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center in order to effectively redesign future clinical trials utilizing the mechanistic insights that Ye acquires from mice. He hopes to build a comprehensive mouse modeling toolkit to accelerate high-impact discoveries in the cancer immunotherapy space. Education & Training 2017-present: PhD (Cancer Biology) Candidate, University of Pennsylvania 2014-17: Research Student, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 2014: Research Intern, Merck Awards & Honors 2022: Parker Scholar