Visiting Scholars
Julio R. Escartin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition “Salvador Zubirán”
Dr. Julio R. Escartin earned his B.S. in Biotechnology from the Interdisciplinary Professional Unit of Biotechnology in Mexico City in 2011. He subsequently completed his M.D. and Ph.D. in Medical Research at the Superior School of Medicine. During his postgraduate studies, he investigated how the pore-forming toxin Cytolysin from Vibrio cholerae activates the innate immune system in macrophages, particularly the MAPK pathway and the transcription factors involved in the inflammasome response.
In 2024, he joined Dr. Miguel A. Torres’s Gene Therapy & Vaccine Group in the Gastroenterology Laboratory at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition “Salvador Zubirán,” contributing his expertise in immunology to lead the development of a viral vector–based vaccine against Helicobacter pylori. In 2025, he joined the Institute as a postdoctoral fellow. In October 2025, he became a visiting scholar in Weissman’s Lab, working under the supervision of Dr. Jibin Zhou. His current research focuses on designing an innovative multi-epitope vaccine against H. pylori using mRNA–LNP technology.
Si-Han Wu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Taipei Medical University
Dr. Si-Han Wu completed his Master’s and Ph.D. in Chemistry at National Taiwan University under the mentorship of Dr. Chung-Yuan Mou in 2008 and 2013, respectively. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the Research Center for Applied Sciences of Academia Sinica, he joined Taipei Medical University (TMU) as an Assistant Professor in August 2015. To further enhance his expertise, Dr. Wu visited the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California until June 2016. He is currently an Associate Professor at TMU, specializing in nanobiotechnology with a focus on advancing mesoporous silica and translational nanomedicine. In August 2024, Dr. Wu joined Dr. Drew Weissman's lab as a visiting scholar. His goals include deepening his knowledge in RNA technology and immunology, as well as fostering international collaborations. Under the guidance of Dr. Jillian Melamed and Dr. Elena Atochina-Vasserman, he is working to elucidate nano-bio interactions and develop RNA-based nanotherapeutics.
Ivana Zagorac, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Investigator, H12O-CNIO Cancer Immunotherapy Clinical Research Unit Postdoctoral Investigator, H12O-CNIO Cancer Immunotherapy Clinical Research Unit Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO)
Dr. Ivana Zagorac is a molecular biologist specializing in cancer research and advanced immunotherapeutic strategies for solid tumors. She completed her Ph.D. through the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) in collaboration with the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), where she investigated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) using phosphoproteomic profiling to identify biomarkers and key signaling pathways driving tumor aggressiveness.
She later joined the Molecular Genetics of Angiogenesis Group at the Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), where she studied the role of Notch signaling and hypoxia in tumor angiogenesis. In 2022, she transitioned to the Cancer Immunotherapy Unit (UNICA) at Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, focusing on mRNA-engineered adoptive cell therapies for solid tumors.
Since 2024, Dr. Zagorac has been part of the H12O-HMarBCN Cancer Immunotherapy Group at CNIO, contributing to the SMART-T project to overcome tumor heterogeneity by integrating surface and intracellular antigen targeting.
In November 2025, she joined Weissman’s Group under the supervision of Dr. Irina Shkundina, where she is developing in vivo dual CAR-STAb T cell therapy using mRNA-LNP technology to enhance the precision and durability of antitumor immune responses.