Hannah Mager

From autoimmunity to Alzheimer’s Disease to stem cells: finding your niche in the biosciences 

Hannah Mager graduated from Hudson Falls High School in 2016 (and is Mr. Vartuli’s favorite student ever). This year, she graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience. During her time at Northeastern, Hannah conducted research across a number of fields, with a focus on immunology. Her first introduction to biological research was in Dr. Penny Beuning’s lab at Northeastern University, where Hannah was studying DNA damage tolerance in bacteria. From there, she moved on to Compass Therapeutics where she worked in the Autoimmune Disease Group developing novel antibodies for the treatment of several autoimmune diseases. Following a semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland, Hannah did her next bout of research at Amgen. Here, she was a member of their Cell and Molecular Neuroscience Group with a focus on neuroinflammation. Specifically, she investigated a protein that has genetically been found to modulate Alzheimer’s Disease risk. Hannah ultimately ended up at Vor Biopharma, where she is currently working. At Vor, Hannah is focused on the discovery of novel genes for genetic editing to create a cancer-specific antigen that can be targeted via bio therapeutics. 

While not in the lab, Hannah enjoys exploring restaurants around Boston and getting out of the city to hike in New Hampshire and Vermont. She often returns to Hudson Falls to spend time with her family, friends, and dog. In the future, she plans to return to school for her PhD in Neuroscience, ideally doing research in the field of neuroimmunology. Until then, she’s excited to remain at Vor.