Meet the Team

Crismita C. Dmello, PhD

Principal Investigator

Crismita grew up in Mumbai, India, and has pursued a multidisciplinary research path spanning molecular biology, cancer biology, immunology, and infectious diseases.

She earned her Ph.D. in Life Sciences from ACTREC (HBNI University, Mumbai, India) in 2017, followed by postdoctoral research on malaria biology at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Driven by a strong interest in translational cancer research, Crismita transitioned to brain tumor translational research, completing postdoctoral and research faculty training at Northwestern University.

Crismita’s lab focuses on engineering hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and modulating tumor-intrinsic pathways to enhance immunotherapy for brain tumors. She is passionate about building a collaborative, interdisciplinary, and supportive team dedicated to advancing innovative therapies for brain tumors.

Heba Ali, PhD

Dr. Ali is a cancer immunotherapy researcher specializing in tumor-immune interactions in glioblastoma and meningioma. She earned her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Florida International University and M.Sc. in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University.

At Dr. Dmello’s Lab, Dr. Ali leads research on tumor-intrinsic immune evasion mechanisms. Her pioneering research explores the CHK2-YBX1/YBX3 hub, uncovering its critical role in shaping the tumor-immune landscape and enhancing immune checkpoint blockade responses in glioblastoma. She also investigates CHEK2-deficient meningiomas, demonstrating their susceptibility to immune checkpoint blockade therapy.

A passionate advocate for scientific innovation in STEM, Dr. Ali actively mentors young researchers and contributes to translational cancer research, aiming to improve outcomes for patients with aggressive brain tumors.

Postdoctoral Scholar

Heba.ali@northwestern.edu

Jianzhong Zhang, PhD

Jianzhong earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Xiamen University, China, in 2023. He previously worked on developing biomimetic therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy. Jianzhong is currently focused on engineering hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM) in the Dmello Lab, co-advised by Dr. Peng Zhang (Zhang Lab). He is passionate about developing novel biotherapeutics to benefit cancer patients.