Ayantu Temesgen

Portrait
ayantu_temesgenathms.harvard.edu

Ayantu grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia before moving to the US for her undergrad studies. She completed her BS/MSc in Biochemistry at Brandeis University, where she studied under Prof Dorothee Kern investigating the differential regulation and evolution of two tyrosine receptor kinases, Src and Abl. After college, she joined the cell pharmacology team at C4 therapeutics where she further developed her interests in translational oncology. She joined the Harvard-MIT MD/PhD program in 2019 and is currently pursuing her PhD in Immunology. She is broadly interested in the intersection of immunity, metabolism and cancer and is exploring the effect of different lipids on CD8 T cell function.

Enjoys (not necessarily good at!): dancing, kickboxing, sushi, late night existential conversations (+ sushi)

Fave(ish) shows: HTGAWM, most Netflix limited series 

Fave(ish) books: Americanah, The Vanishing Half

Comfort shows: Friends, Community, Jo Koy standups