Teagen's summer research project was to work with Hanna Huston to more fully understand synovial sarcoma. Synovial sarcoma is a rare, soft tissue sarcoma that affects young adults. There are two subtypes: monophasic and biphasic. Monophasic tumors display a spindle cell-like morphology, and biphasic tumors display both spindle cell-like and epithelial-like compartments. Macrophages are the most abundant cell types within these tumors, and they cycle iron more than any other cell in the body. Teagen's project focused on understanding how the processing of the hemoglobin-haptoglobin complex is processed by these tumor-associated macrophages. To do this, he utilized immunofluorescent imaging on preserved human tumor samples targeting heme transport, heme metabolism, iron storage, and iron export. He aimed to better understand how tumor-associated macrophages are handling iron based on their associated synovial sarcoma morphology to identify potential therapeutic targets that are unique to each subtype.