Our Team

Ray Pajarillo, MS

Ray joined the Ruella lab in January 2019. He received a B.S degree in Biology from University of Wisconsin- Parkside and a M.S in Immunology at Drexel University College of Medicine. His primary roles in the lab is to oversee all lab operations and act as the liaison for biological specimens between researchers and clinicians for the Lymphoma Program. Outside of lab, you can find him training for a powerlifting competition, capturing Philly through a lens, and cruising on his electric longboard. 

Rebecca Yelton

Rebecca joined the lab in the Fall of 2019 as a research administrative assistant. Before joining the Penn team, Rebecca worked at Hahneman University Hospital as an administrative assistant for the Hematology & Oncology outpatient clinic. Rebecca graduated from Temple University with a BA in Linguistics. When Rebecca is not supplying administrative support to the lab, she enjoys crochet, researching dialects, and listening to horror podcasts. 

Patrizia Porazzi, PhD

Patrizia joined the lab in October 2021. She is a passionate cancer biology scientist, and she loves, even more, mentoring the next generation of scientists. Patrizia obtained her PhD in Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine from the University of Milan (Italy). She moved to the United States for her post-doctoral training at Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia). During that time, she studied the role of chromatin structure and epigenetic modification in response to chemotherapy in acute myeloid and lymphoid leukemias. As a senior scientist in Ruella’s lab, Patrizia is studying how the epigenetic landscape of lymphomas may affect the efficacy of CAR T cells or cause resistance. In addition, Patrizia is working collaboratively with the personnel in the laboratory in the execution of experiments, and she works with the Principal Investigator on scientific projects development. Out of the lab, she loves running and hiking with her dog and organizing cultural and social events relevant to her Italian heritage.

Linhui Chen

Linhui Chen is a bioinformatician at Institute for Biomedical Informatics, the Bioinformatic Core. She graduated from Northeastern University with the master’s degree in bioinformatics. Before joining the lab, she also did internship at MGH and the biotech company. In her free time, she enjoys boxing and playing the guitar.

Yunlin Zhang, MS

Yunlin Zhang is a master's student in Bioengineering from the school of engineering and applied science at UPenn. She received her B.S. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) from UCLA in 2020. Piror to joining the Ruella lab, she studied in the lab of Dr. Kitazawa to understand mechanisms of brain imflammatory responses. She has two cute cats.

Guido Ghilardi, MD

After graduating from the University of Eastern Piedmont in Novara, Italy in 2015, Guido went on to complete a residency program in Hematology at the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, a world-recognized center for the treatment of lymphoid malignancies.

During his training, Guido had the opportunity to enrich his knowledge through the very useful collaboration in basic, clinical, and translational research projects that sparked an in immense curiosity and interest to further deepen his knowledge in each and every field of hematology research. In particular, Guido has developed a crescent interest in adoptive cell-therapy and the contribution that this treatment might provide in the management of lymphoproliferative disease.

To further improve his knowledge on this topic Guido has joined the Ruella Lab in order to study the biology mechanisms of relapse after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells treatment and new strategies to improve the efficacy of this promising therapy.

Ivan Cohen, PhD

Ivan is a post-doctoral research assistant who joined the lab in January 2021. He received his PhD from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he studied the links between glucose metabolism and immune suppression in solid tumors. During his PhD and post-doctoral training, Ivan has been interested in understanding various mechanisms of immune evasion to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy. In the Ruella lab, he hopes to develop novel ways of treating various hematologic malignancies. In his spare time, Ivan likes to watch and play soccer.

Alberto Carturan, MD

I’m Alberto Carturan, and I graduated from University of Ferrara, Italy in 2017. Currently I’m in a residency program in Hematology at the AOU – Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona, in Italy. Recently, the onco-hematological world has begun to fascinate me and I have developed a particular interest in everything related to immunotherapy. During my training, knowing the stories and illnesses of many people has cemented my desire to continue in this area and to learn everything possible in order to be useful in treating hematological diseases. Thanks to clinical studies and the research projects and carried out in Italy, I have developed a growing interest in adoptive cell-therapy and in its enormous potential in the therapy of lymphoproliferative diseases. This led me to join the Ruella Lab, in order to study the mechanisms of relapse after therapy with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells and with the certainty of being able to exponentially increase my scientific knowledge in Immunotherapy. In my spare time, I like to watch TV-series, workout and spend time with my family.

Mathew Angelos, MD, PhD

Mat is a Hematology/Oncology fellow in the Physician Scientist Pathway (PSP) at the University of Pennsylvania. He received both his MD and PhD (Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology) at the University of Minnesota and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His doctoral research investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying human hemato-endothelial cell differentiation. He joined the Ruella Lab in July 2021. Mat is interested in expanding adoptive cellular therapies (CAR-T and CAR-NK) against hematological malignancies, specifically myeloid and T-cell leukemia. In his free time, Mat enjoys NY Islanders hockey, Duke basketball, and landscape photography

Christopher "Tor" Sauter, MD

I am a second-year Hematology/Oncology fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. My academic interests are in lymphoid neoplasms and adoptive cellular therapies. My research specific focus is understanding and augmenting the cytotoxic potential of CAR T-cells, which I pursue within the lab of Marco Ruella. I attended Emory Medical School, during which time I spent a year working in the lab of Terry Fry at the NCI. Following this, I returned to my home of Philadelphia where I completed my internal medicine training and continue now as a Hematology/Oncology fellow. In my spare time I enjoy helping my two-year-old explore the wonders of the world through hiking, camping, canoeing, stargazing, and, of course, spending lots of time on the playground. Additionally, I enjoy bicycling, cooking, and reading biographies, history, and science fiction.

Puneeth Guruprasad

Puneeth is a 1st year Bioengineering graduate student, and a native of Pennsylvania from North Wales. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech ('19), where he worked in the microfluidics lab of Dr. Wilbur Lam on red blood cell mechanics. In his spare time, Puneeth enjoys playing violin, rock climbing, and attempting to DJ. 

Ruchi Patel

Ruchi is a graduate student in the Cell and Molecular Biology program at Penn. She previously graduated from NC State University in 2017 with a BS in Human Biology. She then spent two years in a joint fellowship program with the National Cancer Institute at NIH and Johns Hopkins University. During this time, she worked as a postbac in the lab of Dr. Michael Gottesman to understand mechanisms of small molecule drug resistance while completing her MS in Biotechnology at Hopkins. She has now joined the Ruella lab since June 2020 to study mechanisms of CAR-T immunotherapy resistance and develop new strategies to overcome them.

Audrey Bochi-Layec

Audrey is a PhD student in the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group (Gene Therapy and Vaccines Program). She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2022 with a BA in Biology where she worked on studying the role of EpCAM mutations on epithelial cancers in Dr. William Gillanders' lab. As part of the Ruella lab, she now hopes to develop novel CAR Ts for hematological malignancies as well as for other diseases. In her spare time, Audrey likes to box, take care of her house plants, and explore Philly. 

Melody Tan

Melody is a PhD student in the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group (Gene Therapy and Vaccines Program). After graduating from MIT in 2020 with a BS in Biological Engineering, she worked for two years in the Eric Smith Lab at Dana Farber Cancer Institute working on novel CAR T cell therapies for multiple myeloma. At Penn, she hopes to study the field of T cell epigenetics and its application to T cell engineering with a joint mentorship between the Ruella Lab and the Wherry Lab. When not in lab, Melody enjoys swing dancing, volleyball, and trying new restaurants.

Ekta Singh

Ekta is a master’s student pursuing Bioengineering at UPenn SEAS. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biological Engineering from Purdue University. During this time, she explored research in terms of isolation and characterization of bacteriophage with the HHMI under Dr. Clase’s direction. She also worked with Dr. Mattoo to further research towards characterizing mechanisms in Parkinson’s Disease to develop targeted therapeutics. Collectively, these experiences have led her to joining the Ruella lab to understand cellular immunotherapies and make them more robust to lower the patient burden. Outside of the lab, you can find her at an archery field or watching true crime documentaries!  

Ziqi (Kathy) Yang

 Ziqi Yang is a first-year master's student in biotechnology from the Engineering school at UPenn. She received her B.S. in Biochemistry major from UCLA in 2020. Prior to joining the Ruella lab, she participated in a project which focused on analyzing the mechanism of Farnesoid X receptor agonists. That project inspired her interest in the biomedical field. Out of the lab, she is a cat lover and she loves photography.

Siena Nason

Siena is undergraduate freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing a B.A. in Biology with a concentration in mechanism of disease and double minoring in BBB and Health Services Management and Chemistry. In the lab, Siena is interested in researching and improving CART cell therapy specifically targeting B-cell lymphomas.  Before joining the Ruella Lab, she researched angiogenesis and specific genes that influenced BMP signaling at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and exploring Philadelphia. 

Michael Wang

Michael is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing a B.A. in Neuroscience and double minoring in BBB and Health Services Management and Bioethics. In the lab, his research interests include working with CART immunotherapy and developing therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance. Prior to joining the Ruella Lab, he conducted research on respiratory syncytial virus at the Peeples Lab interned at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. In his free time, he enjoys running, listening to music, hanging out with friends, and finding new food places to eat at. 

Luca Paruzzo, MD

Luca is a Current Oncology Senior Fellow at University of Turin. During his Fellowship he worked mainly with cellular therapies (both in solid and hematological tumors) and hematopoetic stem cell transplantation. To further improve his knowledge, in the cellular therapies field, Luca joined the Ruella Lab to discover new strategies to improve the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies. In his free-time he loves playing soccer, walking in the nature and cuddle his loving foster cat.

Giulia Gabrielli, MD

Giulia is a Hematology Senior Fellow at the University of Torino. She graduated in Medicine at the University of Bologna, Italy in 2018 with a thesis on diffuse large B-cell Lymphoma. Then, she moved to the University of Torino, where she is primarily involved in allogeneic stem cell transplantation research. During her medicine degree program, she worked at the Department of Human Anatomy in Bologna and won a scholarship for the human anatomy course at the New York University. She joined the Ruella lab in February 2023 to further improve her knowledge of adoptive cell therapy and study the mechanisms of relapse after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment. During her spare time, she loves playing the piano, singing, running and trekking.

Eugenio Fardella

I am a medical specialist in hematology, and my research focuses on the determinants of response or resistance to CAR T-cell therapy in B-cell lymphoma patients. In the past year, I have been focusing on next-generation sequencing of T-cell lymphomas using liquid biopsy. The purpose of my project is to use liquid biopsy in lymphoma patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy to identify genetic mechanisms of treatment resistance and delineate features that allow CAR T-cell therapy to work or fail in a given context of lymphoma genetics.