Maya Grace Gempler joins the St. Jude Graduate School after working as a Research Technician for the past three years in the Transplantation Research Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Prior to her time there, Gempler graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., with a degree in biomedical sciences.
Gempler’s introduction to cell death research came as an undergraduate at Union College where she conducted a project in Dr. Robert Lauzon’s lab focused on investigating anastasis as a universal homeostatic mechanism in non-cancerous mammalian cells. In that project, Gempler was looking to determine the relevance of this process apart from the cancer model where it was established.
Her post-baccalaureate research led her into allergy immunology investigating TFH and B cell biology in allergic airway disease in Dr. Peter Sage’s lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Gempler co-led a project exploring the origins and programming of allergen-specific IgE B cells in the lung. The lab’s publications have established the essential nature of Tfh13 cells in the development of allergen specific IgE B cells in the germinal center and they continue to show the need for IL21 producing TFH in the production of pathogenic IgE development locally and using genetically engineered mice to clarify the kinetics of IgE B cell development and migration.
Gempler is interested in returning to the field of cell death for her graduate research, looking at implications of cell death mechanisms in issues of human health and disease. She also has a particular interest in understanding the role of cell death pathways in the development of treatment resistance in cancer.
The creativity, collaboration, and clinical impact emphasized by the Biomedical Sciences PhD program is what drives Gempler’s excitement for joining the St. Jude Graduate School. The mission driven nature of the program aligns with her desire to conduct research that addresses real-world challenges.
Hometown: Keene, NH
Education:
2023 BS, Biological Sciences, Union College
Awards/Honors/Scholarships:
2023 Phi Beta Kappa
2023 Sigma Xi
Publications:
Nelson CS, Podesta MA, Gempler M, Lee JM, Batty CJ, Mathenge PG, Sainju A, Chang MR, Ke H, Chandrakar P, Bechu E, Richardson S, Cavazzoni CB, Tullius SG, Abdi R, Ghebremichael M, Haigis MC, Marasco WA, Sage PT. The inflammaging microenvironment induces dysfunctional rewiring of Tfh cell differentiation. JCI Insight. 2025. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.187271.
Chandrakar P, Nelson CS, Podesta MA, Cavazzoni CB, Gempler M, Lee JM, Richardson S, Zhang H, Samarpita S, Ciofani M, Chatila T, Kuchroo VK, Sage PT. Progressively differentiated Tfh13 cells are stabilized by JunB to mediate allergen germinal center responses. Nature Immunology. 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41590-025-02077-y.
Lee JM, Raeder PL, Rashid RB, Zhang H, Nelson CS, Richardson S, Burke KP, Chandrakar P, Podesta MA, Gempler MG, Batty C, Kong D, Gavzy SJ, WillsonShirkey M, Yang C, Bromberg JS, Haigis MC, Marasco WA, Sharpe AH, Sage PT. 2026. Stability and progressive differentiation of Tfr cells are intrinsically and extrinsically controlled by Tfh programs. Nature Immunology. doi: 10.1038/s41590-025-02373-7.