Luke defended his thesis titled “Preclinical Brain Tumor Research on HSV-P10, an Immune-Stimulating Oncolytic Herpesvirus” on Tuesday, October 31st.
Luke joined the lab of Balveen Kaur after completing his BS in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and enrolled in the Neuroscience Graduate Program the following year. During his time in the NGP, Luke presented his work at multiple national and international conferences including several oral presentations, contributed to 5 published papers including one first-author paper in Neuro-Oncology, as well as several currently in submission, and served as secretary and chair of professional development within the Neuroscience Graduate Student Organization. Luke was awarded a Pelotonia Graduate Fellowship in 2016 for his research on brain tumor therapy, and a $1000 travel award from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in 2017. Following graduation, Luke’s plan is to work on the clinical development of viral therapies for cancer, helping to translate novel therapies from the bench to the bedside.