Ayana is a post-doctoral fellow, currently establishing and characterizing VEXAS mouse models to investigate the effects of UBA1 in hematopoietic development and the molecular mechanisms of inflammation. She received her B.S. from Bates College, ME, and her PhD from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Vilcek Institute. Prior to her graduate school, she contributed to the development of therapy for B-Raf mutated melanoma cancer at MSKCC in Dr. Neal Rosen’s group. For her thesis work in Dr. Jeremy Dasen’s lab, she dissected the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in motor neuron cell fate decision. She is excited to expand her horizons in immunology with her experience in Molecular Pharmacology and Developmental Neuroscience. Outside of science, she enjoys world history, cooking and biking.