Melissa Cadena is a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Her research focuses on developing ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging tools and techniques to study imaging biomarkers, monitor early therapeutic responses, and track the trafficking of immune cells (T cells and dendritic cells) and pathogen/virus-like particles for immunotherapy applications.
She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she was a MARC-U*Star Scholar in Dr. Jing Yong Ye’s Biophotonics and Nanotechnology Laboratory. Her undergraduate work focused on label-free biosensing applications for cancer diagnosis and prognosis.
Outside of research, Melissa enjoys running, weight lifting, playing basketball, spending time with friends, and being outdoors.