BellRinger Fellow Tiffany Tian grew up in California’s Bay Area and stayed close to home for her undergraduate studies, earning a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology with a minor in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. Her early experiences working with unhoused and medically underserved populations deeply shaped her desire to pursue a career in medicine—one rooted in equity, scientific discovery, and systems-level impact.
That commitment to both patients and progress led Tiffany to Georgetown University’s School of Medicine. Drawn by the school’s well-rounded approach to medical education and the opportunity to explore her varied interests, she saw Georgetown as a space where she could integrate her passion for both care delivery and research innovation. Though her sights may eventually return westward for residency, Tiffany is focused on making the most of her time at Georgetown, and her BellRinger Fellowship is a key part of that experience.
This summer, Tiffany worked with Dr. Yili Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow in Georgetown’s Innovation Center for Biomedical Informatics, on a project that combines immunotherapy research with cutting-edge computational science. Her work centers on immune-related adverse events—complications that arise when immunotherapy treatments, which are designed to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, also trigger unintended immune responses in patients.
To help predict which patients may experience these toxicities, Tiffany is leveraging a database developed in collaboration with Hackensack Meridian Health. By transforming patient information into text prompts, she is using large language model embeddings to train traditional machine learning models to identify patterns and make meaningful predictions. The goal is to use the semantic knowledge of pre-trained large language models to strengthen predictive accuracy and ultimately help providers better manage treatments for patients receiving immunotherapy.
Her research not only reflects where oncology is heading, but also where Tiffany sees herself in the future. With a background steeped in both biology and technology, she’s passionate about harnessing data to improve clinical outcomes, while remaining clear-eyed about the ethical challenges such models can introduce, especially around bias. “It’s something I always try to keep in mind,” she says. “As we collect more data, we also have more power to make predictions, but we have to be thoughtful about how we use it.”
Outside of the lab, Tiffany will be volunteering at BellRinger this fall. While she admits she’s not a cyclist, she’s enthusiastic about joining the BellRinger community and supporting the mission in ways that align with her strengths. She appreciates the grassroots energy of the weekend and its focus on funding research through community-driven philanthropy.
“To know there’s a whole network of people who care about this work and are coming together to support it—that’s really meaningful,” she says. “Cancer affects so many lives, and events like BellRinger make a big difference.”
As she looks ahead to BellRinger Weekend, Tiffany is eager to connect with fellow researchers, survivors, and supporters. “It’ll be great to talk to everyone involved,” she says. “I think there’s a lot to learn from each other and our individual reasons for wanting to end cancer.”
The Mitchell BellRinger Oncology Research Fellowship Program, named in honor of Georgetown University School of Medicine Dean Emeritus Stephen Ray Mitchell, MD, recognizes his extraordinary contributions to advancing medical student research during his tenure as Dean for Medical Education at Georgetown. Established in 2024 with support from the family of Elena and Barney Byrd, the program is now additionally funded by Dr. Mitchell and his wife, Ellen, after being deeply moved by the recognition. Through the BellRinger Fellowship program, Georgetown Lombardi will continue to drive cancer research forward and mentor the next generation of researchers.
