Stephen Martindale

Stephen graduated from UC Berkeley in 2023 with a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology. As an undergraduate, he conducted research in Dr. Jennifer Doudna's lab, where he investigated the role of the transcription factor GABP in reactivating the TERT promoter. He also worked in Dr. Jennifer Brown’s lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he contributed to translational research projects in CLL. His work focused on characterizing the efficacy of the noncovalent BTK inhibitor pirtobrutinib in primary CLL cells from patients with acquired ibrutinib resistance driven by BTK C481S mutations. He also explored immune-related toxicities associated with PI3Kδ inhibition, identifying a correlation between elevated circulating Th17 cells at treatment initiation and the development of autoimmune toxicity. As a graduate student in Dr. Markus Müschen's lab, he is currently investigating therapeutic strategies that exploit hyperactivation of oncogenic signaling pathways in B-cell malignancies.