Immunology and microbial pathogenesis Ph.D. candidate to present at 2025 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Scientific Summit

Mercy Ojetunde, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis Program at West Virginia University, has been invited to present her research at the 2025 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Scientific Summit September 27 - 28, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The PanCAN 2025 Scientific Summit is an exclusive, invitation-only event that brings together the foremost leaders and innovators in pancreatic cancer research to discuss breakthrough discoveries and strategies to advance the field.

This summit provides a unique platform for groundbreaking discussions and collaborations that aim to accelerate progress against one of the most challenging cancers.

Mercy’s presentation will focus on her Multiomics project, which combines single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics and clinical data integration to identify myeloid cell signatures that predict chemotherapy response in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In addition to her Multiomics work, she used the SPARK Health Data to deepen our understanding of how immune cells shape therapy outcomes in this aggressive disease.

Mercy is currently pursuing her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Brian Boone, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Surgery and member of the WVU Cancer Institute.

To learn more about the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology visit medicine.wvu.edu/micro.