The Gilliam Fellowship supports graduate students and their advisors through funding, leadership training, and plentiful mentorship opportunities. Jefferson, who is co-advised by Whitehead Fellow Tobiloba Oni and MIT Biology Professor and Koch Institute Founding Director Tyler Jacks, studies how pancreatic cancer cells evade the immune system. Specifically, Jefferson and her advisors study the role of T cells during the initiation and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), with the goal of identifying strategies to harness immune responses to fight this highly lethal cancer.