National Hispanic Heritage Month: Honoring Contributions in Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a personalized, powerful, and predictable treatment that holds immense progress and potential against cancer. This National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is proud to acknowledge the achievements of Hispanic immunologists while recognizing that more must be done to address disparities in access and cancer care for the Hispanic community.

My advice for Hispanic students and aspiring scientists is that having support from your peers and mentors is paramount to a successful graduate research experience.”

Megan Molina, PhD, CRI-Bristol Myers Squibb Postdoctoral Fellow

CRI has undertaken several measures to help bridge disparities in cancer research and access to care. The CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship to Promote Racial Diversity supports young scientists from underrepresented communities at leading academic and research centers who seek training in fundamental and cancer immunology. Further, CRI’s website is available in Spanish, and the institute hosts an annual Spanish-language virtual summit to help spread awareness of cancer immunotherapy to patients, families, caregivers, and scientists in the Hispanic community.

During National Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place from September 15 through October 15, CRI will highlight several CRI-funded Hispanic scientists while illuminating their life-improving and potentially life-saving immunotherapy research.  

Disparities in Cancer Care

There have been meaningful conversations about addressing disparities in cancer care among marginalized groups, and the Hispanic community is no different. Megan Molina, PhD, senior fellow in the Oberst Lab at the University of Washington and CRI-Bristol Myers Squibb Postdoctoral Fellow, told CRI that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hispanic and Latino people have higher rates of diagnosis and mortality with certain cancer types. Dr. Molina is supported by the CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship to Promote Racial Diversity. 

“I think that economic disparities and access to affordable healthcare heavily underlie these facts, and advocating for those things to your local government can go a long way. I think scientific and academic institutions have an obligation to communicate economic disparities and access to affordable healthcare to the lay community,” she said. Dr. Molina’s research focuses on producing engineered immune cells that replicate the biological anti-infection response. “Pushing for open access journals is one way to ensure the public has access to the science.” 

Addressing the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Gap

Access to scientific information and proper care are not the only barriers the Hispanic community faces – there is also a disparity in representation within STEM professions. Alejandro Villagra, PhD, associate professor of oncology at Georgetown University and CRI CLIP Investigator, said that raising awareness and interest in the sciences among any specific group must involve community members who work in these fields. 

“In my experience, it is rewarding to have young students coming to your lab for a few weeks in the summer or during rotations, then hearing from them things like, ‘I never thought that doing cancer research was this important! I think I found what I want to study,’” Dr. Villagra said. His CRI grant focuses on predicting the effectiveness of immune checkpoint blockades in melanoma patients.

Mentorship and Advice for Aspiring Scientists

Dr. Villagra’s point leans into an important subject among all CRI-funded scientists – mentorship. Julio Delgado, MD, hematologist at the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer in Spain and CRI Clinical Innovator, said his advice for blossoming scientists in the Hispanic community is that there are breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapy research every day. Dr. Delgado said it is very rewarding to witness your hard work come to light and help your own patients. He has multiple mentors in his community that inspire him, including one at his clinic.

“I admire my colleague Manel Juan, MD, PhD, head of the Immunology Department at my institution, who has been behind my entire project since its inception,” Dr. Delgado said. His CRI grant focuses on a pilot study designed to benefit lymphoma patients. “I would also like to mention Marco L. Dávila, MD, PhD, one of the brightest minds in the cancer immunotherapy field.” Dr. Dávila is a medical oncologist at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Drs. Molina, Villagra, and Delgado addressed how confronting gaps in cancer care, reinforcing the importance of STEM careers, and mentoring aspiring scientists are all important ways to address disparities in treatment and care in the Hispanic community. CRI will highlight their specific avenues of research over the course of National Hispanic Heritage Month, and how they are working to create a world immune to cancer.