Meet Our Team

Primary Investigator - Jianxun Song, PhD
Description:
Dr. Jianxun (Jim) Song received his Ph.D. in Immunology from The Third Military Medical University in 1998, China, and did his postdoctoral training with Dr. Michael Croft in the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology at San Diego, CA. In 2007, Dr. Song was recruited to the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and went through the tenure process. In 2017 Dr. Song moved his laboratory to the Texas A&M University Health Science Center and is currently a professor in the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology.
Awards and Honors:
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2022 - 2023 AAI Laboratory Travel Grant (Portland, Washington DC)
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2022 AAI Immunology Fellowship (with postdoctoral scholar Dr. Jugal Das)
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2019 AAI Travel Grant to International Congress of Immunology (Beijing, China)
Research Support:
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NIH/NCI (1R01CA221867)
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DoD (LC210361)
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NIH/NIAID (1R21 AI167793)
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NIH/NIAMS (1R21AR083057)
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NIH/NCI (1R01 CA273002)
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ARPA-H (P0080)
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NIH/NCI (1R01CA282254)
Areas of focus:
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Pioneering T-Cell Immunity and Metabolic Regulation
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Targeting Immunomodulatory Pathways
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Innovative Strategies for Cancer Immunotherapy
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Advancing Immunotherapy for Autoimmune Disorders

Post-Doctoral Researchers
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Anil Kumar

Education:
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PhD, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, India.
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Post-Doc, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.
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Post-Doc, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
Research:
Currently working on elucidating the role of NAC1 deficient T reg cells and CD8 T cells in tumor immunotherapy. My research goal is to study the role of NAC1 in regulation of T cell metabolism and their effect on T cell function in tumor microenvironment (TME).
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Rakesh Kumar

Education:
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PhD, Molecular Virology and Immunology, Guwahati, India.
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Post-Doc, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.
Research:
An advancing cancer immunotherapy by combining bacterial treatments with adoptive T cell transfer. The work explores bacterial roles in tumor prevention, therapeutic and CAR T cell enhancement, alongside studying bacterial effects on gene expression related to Pyroptosis and PANtopsis.
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Sunilgowda S Nagaraja

Education:
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PhD- SASTRA University, Tamil Nadu, India.
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Post-Doc, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Research:
My research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of immunogenic cell death pathways within the lung cancer-induced tumor microenvironment (TME). Additionally, I am investigating epigenetic factors and cell signaling mechanisms involved in TME.

Christina James Thomas

PhD Student, Texas A&M University, IMSD T32 Trainee
September 2023 - Present
Education:
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BSc Biology, University of North Texas at Dallas
Kaylee Delgado

PhD Student, Texas A&M University, IMSD T32 Trainee
September 2023 - Present
Education:
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BSc Biology, St.Edward's University
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Msc Integrated Biomedical Sciences, Rush University Medical Center
PhD Students

Academic Collaborators

Krish V Suman

Jacob Roy

Amber Loera

Ben Borja

Yashvi Gandhi

Zachary Manzano

Harshit Rongala

Fisher Craft

Daniel Dowran
PhD Rotation Students
Current Rotational Students
Former Rotation students
Sarah Johns-Hegerhorst
Nicole Petit
Duminduni Hewa Angappulige
William Leach
Song Lab
Designed by:
Nirmit Kumar Rongala
Prajwal Vandana
Harshit Kumar Rongala
Research Assistants
Kamlesh Sawant

Masters Student in Biotechnology, Texas A&M University
November 2023 - Present
Education:
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Integrated Master in Bioengineering, MIT-Arts, Design & Technology University, Pune, India
Nirmit Rongala

Research Assistant, Texas A&M University
June 2024 - Present
Education:
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Biology B.S, Texas A&M University

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Jugal Das
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Hao Yun Peng
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Liqing Wang
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