Rachel Babcock, Ph.D., BS

Personal Information

Rachel Babcock is currently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She received her BS in Cell & Molecular Biology from Texas Tech University in 2016, and her PhD in Immunology from UTHealth MD Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2022. Her dissertation work examined molecular mechanisms regulating dendritic cells, with collaborative projects in tumor immunology, cytokine dependent signaling, inflammation, and hematopoiesis.

Her current research is focused on studying the immune privilege properties of testicular Sertoli cells and changes within the male reproductive tract in the context of infection. She is also studying triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), defining novel nuclear roles of a Wnt signaling member, Dishevelled, in TNBC, with collaborative projects testing the use of cryoablation as a potential treatment for TNBC.

Research Interests

• Mechanisms of immune regulation in various contexts (reproduction, infection, cancer, etc.)
• Biological roles of Dishevelled proteins
• Innate immunity
• Epigenetics