Aarushi Audhut Caro

The intricacy of the body’s immune system has always fascinated Aarushi Caro. Aarushi graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology in 2018 in Goa, India, after which she started her Master's Degree in the Interuniversity Programme of Molecular Biology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Passionate about understanding the interplay between the immune system and cancer, she undertook her Master’s thesis in cancer immunology. In 2020 she started her PhD under the guidance of Prof. Damya Laoui, for which she secured the FWO PhD Fellowship for fundamental research. Her PhD focuses on understanding the heterogeneity of dendritic cells – the security guard cells of the immune system – in cancer with the greater goal of using these cells as anti-cancer vaccines, particularly in ovarian cancer. She is also enthusiastic about disseminating her research to a broader audience owing to which she won the VUB Doctoral Derby Jury award for the best 3-minute PhD thesis pitch in 2023. Overall, research and science communication are the driving forces for Aarushi and she is determined to make meaningful contributions to the transformative journey in the fight against cancer.