Young Lab at UTHealth

We're interested in designing biomaterial platforms to enhance both cancer immunotherapy and tissue engineering applications.

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

New paper out in Cancers!

Congrats @andreasteminist & Gema Sunga, who co-led this study of heterotopic vs orthotopic oral cancer models. A full-circle moment, building on Dr. Myers’ early orthotopic oral tongue cancer model work with Dr. Isaiah J. Fidler. https://t.co/ta8h05X4NA

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

Strong week for our trainees! Presentations at the @UTHealthHouston Pediatric Research Center & @UTSDHouston Center for Craniofacial Research Retreat, with several lab members earning awards.

Also great to support Arman Hassan at @RiceUniversity NSURS this weekend. Go team!

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

Behind every experiment is a team.

Our students at @UTSDHouston and @RiceUniversity are diving into tumor immunology with curiosity, precision, and real teamwork. Watching them grow as scientists is one of the most rewarding parts of this work.

Science is a team sport 💯

[Melina Kibbe, MD @uthealthhoupres]

Visited @UTSDHouston and met incredible students, trainees, faculty, and staff. Their dedication to advancing dental science and practice reflects their school’s unmistakable “spirit of service”.

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

Two weeks out! The OMS Research Collaborative is back with a rapid-fire MRONJ session featuring new data, sharp 5-min research pitches, and global experts. Excited for this one.

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

Excited to join the new @NIH TMD CREATE project - one of the largest studies ever on jaw pain & TMD! With Drs. Mark Wong and Craig Pearl, @UTOMShouston will contribute to this national effort to transform TMD care. 🔗 https://t.co/AYin9ZXd77 #WeareUTSD

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

Proud of our team for their outstanding posters and presentations on strategies for localized immunotherapy in HNSCC!👏 @andreasteminist, Alejandra Cobos Perez, Riya Pagilla, Joyce Jiang, Arman Hassan. Special congratulations to Andrea for Best Abstract Award (Postgrad category)!

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

Big gracias to our speakers, engaged audience (~50 strong) and @IADR & @IADR_OMS for enabling this cross-disciplinary dialogue on how to push the frontiers of oral & craniofacial regeneration—onward to clinical impact! #TeamScience

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

Congrats to Caitlynn Barrows for successfully defending her PhD this week at @MDA_UTHGrad. Co-mentored by @siwyoung and @farachca, she's the 1st PhD student to graduate from @younglabUTH. We're so proud of her for her amazing work with human salivary gland stem/progenitor cells.

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

Congratulations to @andreasteminist for winning an AACR Minority Scholar in Cancer Research (MICR) Travel Award to present her work in intratumoral cytokine therapy for head and neck cancer at the @AACR Annual Meeting. Check out her poster on 4/28/25! #AACR25

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

Congrats @younglabUTH trainees for showcasing their work! @RiceUniversity undergrads Arman Hassan and Riya Pagilla discussed polarizing myeloid cells w/ STING agonists and new MDP hydrogels and @MDA_UTHGrad student Gema Sunga won 1st place at ACTS for her OSCC TME project! 💪

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

Congratulations to @UTSDHouston DS2 student Shawn Nguyen for winning the @AADOCR_NSRG Outstanding Regional Representative award and being selected to present his work on phenotyping the oral cancer immune microenvironment at this year's @AADOCR SCADA competition! #weareutsd

[MD Anderson-UTH Grad @MDA_UTHGrad]

Andrea Hernandez Molina’s research in the Young Laboratory involves treatment for head and neck cancer. Hear more about her research and why she is thankful to work with such amazing scientists in her lab. Andrea is a PhD candidate in the Immunology Program. #WeAreGSBS

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

We're excited to welcome Alejandra Cobos Perez to our lab as a new PhD graduate student! She will be co-mentored by @veiseho and @siwyoung as she develops biomaterial-encapsulated micro-cytokine factories to treat oral cancer, as a collab of @younglabUTH + @LabTabor + #veisehlab

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

Lots of great research presented at @UTSDHouston Student Research Showcase today! Arman Hassan, Shawn Nguyen, @andreasteminist, @SungaGema, Alejandra Cobos Perez, @CMLBarrows, Audra Boehm, Neeraja Dharmaraj, Nourhan Hussein repping @younglabUTH projects 👍🧪

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

There's lots of excitement surrounding immunotherapy to treat oral cancer and lesions at risk of becoming cancer (OPMDs). We discuss the limitations of systemic delivery and how localized, intratumoral approaches w/ biomaterials can address these: https://t.co/og3rJdRmBZ

[Young Lab at UTHealth @younglabUTH]

As the '24 summer term comes to a close, wanted to thank Peyton Worley (BYU) and Arman Hassan (Rice) for joining the @younglabUTH and working on important immunotherapy projects modulating dendritic cells and MDSCs. We♥️ your enthusiasm + energy and wish you all the best!

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

Proud to see our @MDA_UTHGrad PhD student @SungaGema doing an incredible job presenting her work at the @theNCI @NIDCR Immuno-Oncology Translational Network meeting at @NIH discussing the tumor immune microenvironment in preclinical models of oral cancer! #weareutsd

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

@UTOMShouston faculty joining in on the festivities as we celebrate our @UTSDHouston graduates. A special moment for our Chairman Dr. Mark Wong being able to hood his daughter Lindsay, who is a member of the Class of 2024. Congratulations!! 🎉 #WeAreUTSD

[Simon Young @siwyoung]

OMS Research Collaborative starting a new Clinical Innovation Series. Inaugural topic: maxillofacial imaging and AI. Series of short talks given by a great set of speakers, Q&A in-between + breakout rooms for each speaker at the end for you to go in-depth: https://t.co/w9CLSH5tlv