Qinqin Jiang, PhD

I grew up in Jilin, China, and received my Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where I studied BRCA1-mediated tumor suppression and uncovered how ubiquitin signaling regulates homologous recombination at DNA damage sites.

I am currently a Barr Fellow supported by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In Dr. Kaelin’s laboratory, I investigated the molecular basis of kidney cancer immunogenicity. I discovered that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) activates dozens of relatively intact endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), giving rise to immunogenic antigens recognized by T cells from kidney cancer patients (PMID: 40023154). This work established HIF-regulated ERVs as a previously unrecognized class of tumor antigens and revealed how oncogenic transcriptional programs can reshape the tumor antigen landscape.

When not in the lab,  I enjoy spending time with my two young kids and playing and watching sports with them.