Thazin Nwe Aung, PhD
Associate Research Scientist in PathologyCards
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Associate Research Scientist in Pathology
Biography
Dr. Thazin Nwe Aung earned her PhD in Bioinformatics, Genetics, Genomics, and Evolution from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 2019. She leads research at the intersection of computational pathology, machine learning, spatial biology, and cancer immune-oncology. Her work focuses on understanding the tumor immune microenvironment in melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer, with the goal of developing predictive tools for treatment response and resistance.
Dr. Aung is the recipient of the Robert E. Leet and Clara Guthrie Patterson Trust Mentored Research Grant, the Tower Cancer Research Foundation Career Development Grant, and the Lion Heart Foundation Pilot Grant, which support her application of machine learning to spatial biology, with a focus on predictive modeling in head and neck and triple-negative breast cancers. These projects aim to bridge high-dimensional molecular profiling with clinical practice, ultimately informing patient selection for targeted therapies. Through close collaboration with clinical and computational teams, she is developing approaches that integrate data science with translational oncology, advancing the role of AI-driven tools in cancer research and patient care.
Appointments
Pathology
Associate Research ScientistPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- PhD
- University of Adelaide, Dept of Molecular and Biomedical Science (2019)
- MS
- Yangon Technological University, Biotechnology/Molecular Genetics
- BS (Hon)
- Yangon Technological University, Biotechnology/Molecular Genetics
Research
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Overview
Medical Research Interests
Public Health Interests
ORCID
0000-0003-4150-0426- View Lab Website
Rimm Lab
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
David Rimm, MD, PhD
Vesal Yaghoobi, MD, MSc
Harriet Kluger, MD
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD
Jonathan Warrell
Barbara Burtness, MD
Melanoma
Immunotherapy
Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms
Publications
2025
Pathomic Immune Biomarkers Define Recurrence Risk in Early-Stage Melanoma.
Aung TN, Singh A, Espinoza G, Zhang C, Jiang T, Kenchappa D, Bracero Y, Rakhade S, Sultana S, Shukla S, Nghiem E, Abbruzzese M, Kuang C, Geskin L, Entenberg D, Gartrell R, Ferringer T, Leung L, Moon JY, Horst B, Nastiuk K, Rimm D, Chang R, Saenger Y. Pathomic Immune Biomarkers Define Recurrence Risk in Early-Stage Melanoma. Oncologist 2025 PMID: 41052286, DOI: 10.1093/oncolo/oyaf327.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSpatial signatures for predicting immunotherapy outcomes using multi-omics in non-small cell lung cancer.
Aung TN, Monkman J, Warrell J, Vathiotis I, Bates KM, Gavrielatou N, Trontzas IP, Tan CW, Fernandez AI, Moutafi M, O' Byrne K, Schalper KA, Syrigos K, Herbst RS, Kulasinghe A, Rimm DL. Spatial signatures for predicting immunotherapy outcomes using multi-omics in non-small cell lung cancer. Nat Genet 2025, 57: 2482-2493. PMID: 41073787, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02351-7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPathologist-Read vs AI-Driven Assessment of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Melanoma
Aung T, Liu M, Su D, Shafi S, Boyaci C, Steen S, Tsiknakis N, Vidal J, Maher N, Micevic G, Tan S, Vesely M, Nourmohammadi S, Bai Y, Djureinovic D, Wong P, Bates K, Chan N, Gavirelatou N, He M, Burela S, Barna R, Bosic M, Bräutigam K, Illabochaca I, Chenhao Z, Gama J, Kreis B, Mohacsi R, Pillar N, Pinto J, Poulios C, Toli M, Tzoras E, Bracero Y, Bosisio F, Cserni G, Dema A, Fortarezza F, Gonzalez M, Gullo I, Gutiérrez F, Hacihasanoglu E, Jovic V, Lazar B, Olinca M, Neppl C, Oliveira R, Pezzuto F, Pinto D, Plotar V, Pop O, Rau T, Skok K, Sun W, Serbes E, Solass W, Stanowska O, Szasz M, Szymonski K, Thimm F, Vignati D, Vigdorovits A, Prieto V, Sinnberg T, Wilmott J, Cowper S, Warrell J, Saenger Y, Hartman J, Plummer J, Osman I, Rimm D, Acs B. Pathologist-Read vs AI-Driven Assessment of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Melanoma. JAMA Network Open 2025, 8: e2518906. PMID: 40608341, PMCID: PMC12232186, DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.18906.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTumor-infiltrating lymphocytesIntraclass correlation coefficientHazard ratioPrognostic studyTIL scorePrognostic valuePrognostic associationRetrospective cohortTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte quantificationAssessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytesRetrospective cohort of patientsTumour-infiltrating lymphocyte assessmentMultivariate Cox regression analysisEosin-stained slidesCohort of patientsWhole tissue sectionsCox regression analysisTissue sectionsMelanoma tissue sectionsImmunotherapy outcomesMelanoma managementClinicopathological variablesRetrospective natureTest cohortInterobserver variabilityQuantitative Protein Expression of Antibody-Drug Conjugate Targets in EGFR Mutated and Wild-type Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Trontzas I, He M, Wurtz A, Robbins C, Robinson N, Bates K, Liu M, Aung T, Scott L, Chan N, Burela S, Schillo J, Liebler D, Hill S, Morrison R, Vathiotis I, Syrigos K, Goldberg S, Politi K, Rimm D. Quantitative Protein Expression of Antibody-Drug Conjugate Targets in EGFR Mutated and Wild-type Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 2025, 31: 2767-2776. PMID: 40047548, PMCID: PMC12213210, DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-24-3347.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsNon-small cell lung cancerAntibody-drug conjugatesAntibody-drug conjugate targetsEGFR mutationsCell lung cancerEGFR expressionQuantitative immunofluorescenceWild-type non-small cell lung cancerLung cancerAssociated with EGFR mutationsAssociated with EGFR expressionTissue microarray cohortAssociation of HER2Management of patientsAssay limitProportion of casesMutation statusTROP2 expressionMicroarray cohortEGFRQuantitative protein expressionTreatment sequencePatientsCell linesWild-type
2024
A novel sensitizer reduces EGFR-TKI resistance by regulating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and autophagy
Zhang J, Qu Z, Xiao X, Adelson D, Wang F, Wei A, Harata-Lee Y, Cui J, He D, Xie L, Sun L, Li J, Huang Z, Aung T, Yao H, Lin L. A novel sensitizer reduces EGFR-TKI resistance by regulating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and autophagy. Heliyon 2024, 11: e41104. PMID: 39844968, PMCID: PMC11750466, DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e41104.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsEpidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitorsEGFR-TKI-resistant cell linesNon-small cell lung cancerInhibition of drug resistanceLung cancerEpidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistanceDrug resistanceGrowth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitorsCell linesReceptor tyrosine kinase inhibitorsEGFR-TKI resistanceResistance to gefitinibCell lung cancerFirst-line treatmentPI3K/AKT/mTOR pathwayMortality of lung cancerEGFR mutationsTreatment failureMolecular mechanismsDose-dependentlyKinase inhibitorsFlow cytometryAnticancer effectsGefitinibH1650 cells215P Differential spatial gene expression and clinicopathologic characteristics are associated with exceptional response to immune checkpoint inhibition in recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer
Gavrielatou N, Spathis A, Anastasiou M, Economopoulou P, Foukas G, Lelegiannis I, Aung T, Kotsantis I, Vagia E, Panayiotides I, Rimm D, Foukas P, Psyrri A. 215P Differential spatial gene expression and clinicopathologic characteristics are associated with exceptional response to immune checkpoint inhibition in recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer. Immuno-Oncology Technology 2024, 24: 100968. DOI: 10.1016/j.iotech.2024.100968.Peer-Reviewed Original Research109 Development of a novel immuno-metabolic spatial signature to predict response and resistance to immunotherapy in NSCLC patients
Markovits E, Monkman J, Aung T, Reeves J, O’Byrne K, Czertock R, Puig O, Rimm D, Kulasinghe A. 109 Development of a novel immuno-metabolic spatial signature to predict response and resistance to immunotherapy in NSCLC patients. 2024, a119-a119. DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-sitc2024.0109.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitations127 Digital pathology prognostic biomarkers- time for clinical application in melanoma
Saenger Y, Zhang C, Espinoza G, Bracero Y, Kenchappa D, Moon J, Matteo A, Bioh L, Sultana S, Singh A, Aung T, Gartrell R, Leung L, Ferringer T, Chang R, Horst B, Nastiuk K, Rimm D, Geskin L. 127 Digital pathology prognostic biomarkers- time for clinical application in melanoma. 2024, a140-a141. DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-sitc2024.0127.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchBCAM (basal cell adhesion molecule) protein expression in different tumor populations
Burela S, He M, Trontzas I, Gavrielatou N, Schalper K, Langermann S, Flies D, Rimm D, Aung T. BCAM (basal cell adhesion molecule) protein expression in different tumor populations. Discover Oncology 2024, 15: 381. PMID: 39207605, PMCID: PMC11362396, DOI: 10.1007/s12672-024-01244-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsPD-L1 expressionBasal cell adhesion moleculePD-L1Quantitative immunofluorescenceAssociated with better OSPD-L1 protein expressionCancer typesBladder urothelial tumorsProtein expressionMultiple immune checkpointsHead and neckMultiple tumor typesEvidence of hypermethylationImmune checkpointsImmunotherapy responseCell adhesion moleculesTumor typesValidation cohortTumor populationCancer patientsTumorPredictive valueAdhesion moleculesNovel biomarkersWidespread expressionHigh-throughput transcriptome profiling indicates ribosomal RNAs to be associated with resistance to immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Moutafi M, Bates K, Aung T, Milian R, Xirou V, Vathiotis I, Gavrielatou N, Angelakis A, Schalper K, Salichos L, Rimm D. High-throughput transcriptome profiling indicates ribosomal RNAs to be associated with resistance to immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Journal For ImmunoTherapy Of Cancer 2024, 12: e009039. PMID: 38857914, PMCID: PMC11168162, DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-009039.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsNon-small cell lung cancerImmune checkpoint inhibitorsProgrammed cell death protein 1Associated with OSCell lung cancerTissue microarray spotsTissue microarrayValidation cohortLung cancerNon-small cell lung cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitorsAssociated with resistance to immunotherapyCell death protein 1Resistance to immunotherapyAssociated with PFSProgression-free survivalSecreted frizzled-related protein 2Cox proportional-hazards model analysisCheckpoint inhibitorsImmunotherapy strategiesTumor compartmentsRetrospective cohortDiscovery cohortLong-term benefitsPatientsCD68
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
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Activities
activity Nature Medicine
2025 - 2025Journal ServiceRevieweractivity GigaScience
2025 - 2025Journal ServiceRevieweractivity Enhancing Immunotherapy Outcomes: Spatial Multi-Omics Predictive Models
09/09/2024 - 09/10/2024Oral PresentationSpatial Biology Symposium - InvitedDetailsGermantown, MD, United StatesSponsored by AstraZeneca, BioTracactivity Journal for immunotherapy of cancer
2024 - 2024Journal ServiceRevieweractivity Journal of thoracic oncology
2023 - 2024Journal ServiceReviewer
Honors
honor $200,000 Grant Support for Head & Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Research
01/31/2025National AwardRobert E. Leet and Clara Guthrie Patterson Trust Mentored Research Award Bank of America, N.A., TrusteeDetailsUnited Stateshonor $100,000 Dr. Susan Love Fund Award for Breast Cancer Research
01/28/2025National AwardTower Cancer Research FoundationDetailsUnited Stateshonor $52,000 Pilot Grant Support for Breast Cancer Research
01/01/2025National AwardLion Heart Foundation, Yale Cancer CenterDetailsUnited States
News
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News
- October 10, 2025
‘Google Maps’ Approach to Revolutionize Lung Cancer Treatment
- September 30, 2025Source: Cancer Network
Biomarker Expression Intensity Impacts Melanoma Treatment Decision-Making
- September 29, 2025Source: Cancer Network
Scaling Immune Cell Quantification in Melanoma Through AI-Driven Assessment
- August 20, 2025Source: NBC Connecticut (with Dr. David Rimm and Thazin Aung)
Could AI soon help people with cancer?
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Locations
Brady Memorial Laboratory
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310 Cedar Street
New Haven, CT 06510