Katie Koczirka

Katie grew up in Massachusetts and earned her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology as well as Neuroscience from Dickinson College in 2020. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in Dr. Michael Roberts’ laboratory, investigating the role of alternatively spliced BCL2A1 variants in PMA-induced apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia cells. She also interned in Dr. Leonard Zon’s laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital, working to develop a zebrafish reporter system to visualize TGF-β signaling in melanoma. Following graduation, Katie returned to the Zon lab as a research assistant where she evaluated novel small molecules for the treatment of Diamond Blackfan Anemia using zebrafish and human stem cell models. In 2024, she joined Dr. Carla Kim’s laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital. In the Kim lab, her research focuses on lung adenocarcinoma tumorigenesis, investigating interactions between oncogenic transitional cells and other cell types within the developing tumor niche.