Abigail J. Clevenger, PhD

Ewing sarcoma is a rare and aggressive bone cancer that affects children and young adults. A key genetic fusion in these tumors disrupts normal cell behavior, driving rapid growth and weakening the body’s immune defenses. Studying this cancer in the lab is difficult because traditional cell cultures cannot fully capture the diversity of cells and immune interactions present in real tumors. Clevenger aims to bridge this gap by using advanced single-cell techniques to study how Ewing sarcoma cells build and reorganize their internal structures. By combining these novel approaches with analyses of patient tumor samples, her research will uncover how changes inside cancer cells help them evade the immune system and will point to new strategies for developing combination therapies for pediatric solid tumors. Clevenger received her PhD from Texas A&M University and her BS from Trinity University.