Post Doctoral Fellow

Mari is a physician-scientist with expertise in clinical and translational research in hematologic malignancies and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). She graduated from Kyoto University School of Medicine in 2014 and worked as a physician for five years. From April 2019 to March 2025, she pursued her PhD training in the Department of Hematology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, where she was involved in nationwide registry-based clinical research in allo-HSCT.

During her PhD training, her research required both data science skills and clinical insight, given the complex post-transplant course influenced by relapse, graft-versus-host disease, and other complications. In parallel, she pursued　training in human genomics and immunogenetics. She developed a novel KIR (killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor) genotyping method using long-read sequencing and led a nationwide study integrating clinical samples and registry data to evaluate how donor KIR and HLA (human leukocyte antigen) polymorphisms relate to post-transplant relapse in T-cell lymphomas.

In the Horowitz laboratory, her research focuses on elucidating the role of NK-like CD8 T cells within the tumor microenvironment and developing biomarkers that can predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Motivated by her clinical experience, she is committed to advancing immuno-informatics research that can improve patient outcomes.

Fun fact: I enjoy exploring New York City.