Marissa Pioso is a PhD candidate in the Molecular and Medical Pharmacology program at UCLA. Her research focuses on the interplay between intrinsic oncogenic signaling and antitumor immunity in glioblastoma (GBM), with the ultimate goal of identifying synergistic combinations of targeted and immunotherapies to enhance patient response and survival. Her experience in flow cytometry has provided her with a strong foundation to characterize both intratumoral and peripheral immune response in pre-clinical models and patient samples. She is jointly advised by Drs. David Nathanson and Robert Prins. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing videogames (VALORANT) with friends and competitive ballroom dancing.