Supervisor:
Program of Study:
PhD in Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title:
Natural Killer Cells Memory Response in Cancer Immunotherapy
Research Summary:
The immune system oversees protecting us from harmful microorganisms and cancers. Our
defense system has both innate and adaptive defenses. Our innate defenses start to protect us
from the day we are born, and they act in a non-specific way, meaning ?. On the other hand, our adaptive defences
are very specific and can protect us for the rest of our lives. This part of our defenses can remember intruders and develop memory. This memory capacity is the basis for vaccination.
Natural Killer cells or NK cells for short are big players in our innate defences. As their name
implies, they are responsible of killing cells that have been infected or damaged cells such as
cancer cells. When NK cells were first discovered, scientists believed that they acted in a nonspecific way and that they were not capable of developing any memory. However, recent findings have allowed us to understand that these cells perhaps could have the capacity to develop memory. NK cells could be a promising candidate to develop innovative anti-cancer therapies by vaccination.
My research project will advance our understanding of how NK cells develop memory. Since NK cells have the natural capacity to kill cancer cells, our hope is to possibly employ their killing capacity and their presumptive memory capacity in fighting different cancer. Our goal is to possibly propose a better and safer cancer immunotherapy approach employing NK cells.
Scholarships and/or Awards:
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- BHCRI DMRF Sawyer CRTP Studentship 2022
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- Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship (NSGS) 2020
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- Infection, Immunity, Inflammation and Vaccinology (I3V) Graduate Studentship 2020
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- Cancer Research Training Program (CRTP) Traineeship Award 2019
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- DMRF CIBC Graduate Studentship in Cancer Immunotherapies 2019
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- Research NS Scotia Scholars Award 2019
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- MITACS- Globalink Graduate Fellowship 2018
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- MITACS-Globalink Research Internship 2017
Career Aspirations:
I am interested in the interaction between immunology and cancer and in novel approaches to improve current immunotherapies. Following completion of my graduate degree, I plan to continue in the cancer immunotherapy research field and hope that my research will be translated into better future treatments.
Location:
Dalhousie University
Publications:
Cruz-Ramos, M., Zamudio-Cuevas, Y., Medina-Luna, D., et al. Afatinib is active in osteosarcoma in osteosarcoma cell lines. Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology. 2020 April 24: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-020-03220-y
Rahim, M. M. A., Parsons, B. D., Price, E. L., Slaine, P. D., Chilvers, B. L., Seaton, G., Wight, A., Medina-Luna, D., et al. Defective influenza A virus RNA products mediate MAVS-dependent upregulation of human leukocyte antigen class I proteins. Journal of Virology. 2020 April 22: https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00165-20
Zamudio-Cuevas Y, Fernandez-Torres J, Martinez-Nava AG, Martinez-Flores K, Ramirez-Olvera A, Medina-Luna D, Hernandez-Perez AD, Landa-Solis C, Lopez-Reyes AG. Monosodium urate crystal phagocytosis by human synoviocytes induces inflammation. Experimental Biology and Medicine. 2019 Feb 10:1535370219830665.
Lopez-Reyes A, Clavijo-Cornejo D, Fernandez-Torres J, Medina-Luna D, Estrada-Villaseñor EG, Gomez-Quiroz LE, Gutierrez M, Granados J, Vargas-Alarcon G, Pineda C, Garcia H, Morales-Garza LA, Gutierrez-Ruiz MC, Martinez-Flores K. Fast morphological gallbladder changes triggered by a hypercholesterolemic diet. Annals of Hepatology 2018 Aug 24;17(5):857-863.
Medina-Luna D, Santamaria-Olmedo MG, Zamudio-Cuevas Y, Martinez-Flores K, Fernandez-Torres J, Martinez-Nava AG, Clavijo-Cornejo D, Hernandez-Diaz C, Olivos-Meza A, Gomez-Quiroz LE, Gutierrez-Ruiz MC, Pineda C, Blanco F, Reginato AM, Lopez-Reyes AG. Hyperlipidemic microenvironment conditions damage mechanisms in human chondrocytes by oxidative stress. Lipids in Health and Diseases. 2017 Jun 12;16(1):114.
Zamudio-Cuevas Y, Martinez-Flores K, Fernandez-Torres J, Loissell-Baltazar YA, Medina-Luna D, Lopez-Macay A, Camacho-Galindo J, Hernandez-Diaz C, Santamaria-Olmedo MG, Lopez-Villegas EO, Oliviero F, Scanu A, Cerna-Cortes JF, Gutierrez-M, Pineda C, Lopez-Reyes AG. Monosodium urate crystals induce oxidative stress in human synoviocytes. Arthritis Research and Therapy. 2016 May 21;18(1):117.