The Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) welcomes their newest research member Diana Ranoa, who recently began a new Illinois faculty position as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry in the School of Molecular & Cell Biology.
Ranoa grew up in the Philippines, which is where her story begins. She completed her undergraduate studies there and discovered an interest in microbial evolution, discovering how microorganisms change over time. “The lab that I joined in my junior year happened to be a microbiology-focused lab, and that’s how I first started in this field,” said Ranoa.
One of Ranoa’s great inspirations is Carl R. Woese, known as the “Father of Archaea.” Woese, who discovered archaea as a domain of single-celled organisms, was a professor of microbiology at Illinois and the namesake for the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. He was also a motivation for Ranoa to apply to graduate school at Illinois.
In 2006, Ranoa came to the School of Molecular & Cell Biology at Illinois and began her Ph.D. program working in Richard Tapping’s lab, which focused on studying the host immune system. During her time there she learned about toll-like receptors, proteins that are a key part of the innate immune system in the body’s line of defense.
However, as Ranoa was finishing her doctorate in 2014, her father was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. “I saw firsthand how chemotherapy initially affected my father’s health positively, but over time the tumors became more resistant, and the treatment stopped working. Eventually, he succumbed to the disease,” said Ranoa. This was when she decided on her goal to contribute to the field of cancer research.
Fueled by her ambition to help cancer patients, Ranoa went on to a post-doc lab at the University of Chicago with Ralph Weichselbaum. There, she was given the freedom and resources to study radiation oncology. Ranoa investigated specific cell responses against radiation therapy and researched how tumors respond to and develop resistance to ionizing radiation, finding ways to make them recognizable to the immune system.
When her time ended in Chicago, Ranoa was drawn to return to Illinois by the prospect of teamwork with other cancer researchers. “I’ve learned that to develop better responses to cancer, it must be a team-based approach. Talking to different experts and learning how to collaborate with them is essential,” she explained. Ranoa joined the Anticancer Discovery from Pets to People theme at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, led by CCIL member Paul Hergenrother.
Here, Ranoa began focusing her studies on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. CAR T-cell therapy is an immunotherapy that uses a patient’s own T cells (white blood cells that fight infection) to attack cancer cells. After modifying T-cells to produce CARs (receptors that bind to proteins on cancer cells), they can recognize and kill their target cancer cells. The process involves collecting T-cells from the patient’s blood, genetically engineering them, and then infusing them back into the patient.
Moving forward in her faculty position, Ranoa plans to continue this line of research with an emphasis on teamwork. “I’m looking forward to working with the great diversity of experts on campus. Tumor cells develop persistence to any type of treatment, so we need to combine methods and expertise to fight cancer,” she explained. “I want to enhance CAR T-cell therapy, and my lab is going to include both basic science and translational research. I also anticipate working closely with CCIL members who are experts in chemistry, in vivo imaging, and big data analyses to understand how CAR T-cells work in combination with other treatment modalities.”
Ranoa shared that she is excited about her new position, hoping to improve immunotherapy and work collaboratively with hospitals. “I chose to pursue academic research because I always find excitement in trying to answer big questions and pushing science forward, and so I want to take the necessary steps to collaborate with clinicians to realize positive change for cancer patients,” said Ranoa.
Editor’s Note:
This article was written by Florence Lin, CCIL Communications Intern