Sophie Louise Gray-Gaillard

Sophie Gray-Gaillard is a 2026 Parker Scholar and an Immunology PhD Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania working under the advisement of Dr. John Wherry. 

Sophie’s current work examines the cellular interactions that govern tumor-specific T cell function in the tumor microenvironment in patients with HPV+ head and neck cancer. She aims to better characterize tumor infiltrating CD8 T lymphocytes (TILs) at the level of antigen-specificity—particularly distinguishing tumor-specific from nontumor-specific ‘bystander’ populations—as these TILs require distinct therapeutic strategies to effectively promote anti-tumor immunity. Sophie is working to identify local cues that actively shape antigen-specific TIL differentiation, including the cellular interactions and molecular signals in the TME to better understand why some patients mount a response to immunotherapy while others do not. Her ultimate goal is to uncover actionable mechanisms of TIL differentiation and provide a foundation for next-generation immunotherapies tailored to tumor-specific or bystander TILs.

Sophie received her undergraduate degree at Swarthmore College in Neuroscience and Dance. Prior to starting graduate school, Sophie worked at New York University in Dr. Ramin Herati’s lab investigating human immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.