Maria Davern

Maria Davern is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Maynooth University, Ireland, and currently affiliated with the Letai Laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard University). Her academic background includes a BSc from Maynooth University and an MSc/PhD from Trinity College Dublin, where she conducted doctoral research at the Trinity St. James’s Cancer Center under Professor Joanne Lysaght.

Her research focuses on cancer immunotherapy, particularly in

• Improving efficacy of combination immunotherapies
• Developing predictive biomarkers for treatment response
• Investigating tumor-immune microenvironment interactions
• Studying hypoxia and metabolic influences on cancer immunity
• Exploring radiation-immunotherapy synergy
• Characterizing HDAC inhibitor immunomodulatory effects

Key publication trends indicate expertise in gastroesophageal cancer and oesophageal adenocarcinoma, with a strong emphasis on

• Immune checkpoint inhibitors (particularly PD-1 blockade)
• Histone deacetylase (HDAC) modulators
• Perioperative immunotherapy strategies
• Tumor microenvironment reprogramming
• Clinical translation of immuno-oncology concepts
• Centralization of cancer surgery services

Her work spans from 2019 to 2025, with publications in Cancer Letters, British Journal of Cancer, Frontiers in Immunology, and Annals of Surgery. She has contributed to systematic reviews on radiation-immunotherapy integration and hypoxia biology.