Robert Samstein, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Samstein is a radiation oncologist and physician-scientist in the the Department of Radiation Oncology at Mount Sinai and a physician scientist with a laboratory in the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He completed his MD-PhD at the Tri-Institutional Weill Cornell/Memorial Sloan Kettering/Rockefeller program, earning his doctorate studying regulatory T cell biology under the mentorship of Dr. Alexander Rudensky. He trained in radiation oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he conducted immunotherapy-response research under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Chan.
Early in his independent career, Dr. Samstein received two of the most competitive awards for physician-scientists: the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists. He started his lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2019.
Prerna Suri
PhD Student
Prerna is a PhD student in the Immunology training area. She holds a B.Tech in Biotechnology and an ScM in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. She is investigating how alterations in DNA damage repair (DDR) genes influence response to immunotherapy. Outside the lab, she’s usually on the hunt for the best bakery in NYC, and obsessing over her dog, Snowy.
Ezekiel Olumuyide
MD/PhD Student
Ezekiel Olumuyide is an MD/PhD student working in Dr. Samstein’s laboratory on understanding how cancer grows in the presence of our immune system. He grew up in Nigeria and came to the US to pursue higher education at CUNY Lehman College, where he studied Biochemistry. Outside of the Laboratory, you can see Ezekiel hiking, in the gym, running, cooking and watching the best movies/series to exist.
Yifan Zhao
PhD Student
Yifan is a PhD student in the Samstein Lab. Before joining the lab, she trained in dentistry and orthodontics and worked on clinical and regenerative biomaterials research before finding her way into immunology. Her research interests focus on immunogenetics and how MHC variation influences autoimmune disease. She enjoys the little eureka moments that come from figuring things out. Outside the lab, she enjoys exploring museums and new restaurants, traveling and documenting her trips, and has recently gotten into working out and watching soccer games, with a long-term plan of becoming a museum curator after retirement.
Amar Gamal Abou-Hussein
Research Associate
Amar is an Associate Researcher in the Samstein Lab. Born and raised in Astoria, Queens, she earned her B.A. in Neuroscience from Princeton University. Her research employs computational techniques to focuses on understanding how germline genetic variation shapes cancer risk. In her free time, she can be found cycling up 9W or ranking new restaurants on Beli.
Bryan Marr
PhD Student
Bryan Marr is a PhD student investigating how the immune system engages precancerous lesions, aiming to characterize mechanisms of immune surveillance and escape during the emergence of malignancy. He holds an MSc in Immunology from the University of Ottawa, where he engineered CAR-NK cells.
Arooba Ahmed
MD/PhD Student
Arooba Ahmed is an MD/PhD student in the Immunology MTA. She completed her undergraduate at Columbia University where she did research on DNA interstrand cross link repair. Her current research interests are understanding the influence of the tumor microenvironment on immune recognition in lung cancer. Outside of the Laboratory, you can find her updating her Beli reviews at various restaurants and cafes, in the gym, or painting in Central Park.
Lab Alumni
Natalie Vaninov, PhD
Natalie is a former graduate student and graduated in 2025. She is currently working as a scientist at Genetech.
Miriam Saffern, PhD
Miriam is a former graduate student, she graduated in 2025. She is currently working as a computational scientist at TempusAI.
Maame Esi Ackon
Esi is a former research associate, and is currently pursuing her studies at Columbia School of Nursing.
Carol Alencar Ribeiro
Carol is a former research associate in the lab, and is currently pursuing her studies at University of Oxford Medical School.
Joanna Kim
Jo is a former master’s student in the lab, she graduated in 2026 and will be starting medical school soon!
Juhana Habib
Juhana is a former research associate and is currently a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Tony Chung
Tony is a former master’s student, he graduated in 2022. He is currently a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Jonathan Chung
Jonathan Chung is a former research and is currently pursuing an MD-PhD at SUNY upstate.
Zafar Mahmood
Zafar is a former post-doc in the lab