Akshaya is a Research Assistant at MIA, studying the immune profile of melanoma patients receiving neoadjuvant immunotherapy (NeoIT). Using patient samples, she applies multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) to detect multiple biomarkers within tissue, providing insights into immune cell phenotypes in the tumour microenvironment. She also uses high-dimensional single-cell assays such as CyTOF to identify and profile immune cell subsets. Together, these approaches contribute to a deeper understanding of patient responses to NeoIT.

Akshaya has a background in immunology and pathology from her undergraduate and Honours degree at the University of Sydney. During her Honours project, she worked on transgenic TCR T cell therapy for paediatric leukaemia, sparking her interest in cancer research. Since joining MIA, she has broadened her knowledge of immuno-oncology and strengthened her skills in critical thinking and data analysis, particularly through working with complex mIF datasets. She is especially interested in personalised medicine as a strategy to improve survival and treatment response in patients resistant to standard-of-care therapies. Currently, she is contributing to a project developing antigen-informed personalised vaccines in mouse models, with the goal of improving outcomes for patients who do not respond to NeoIT.