Cancer Immunology: an evolving research field, as told by Kitty Liu
Author: Emily Nguyen
To start off Cancer Awareness month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kitty Liu, who recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a Honours Bachelor of Science, specializing in immunology. During this time, she was also a Graphic Design Director with WISE! Kitty is now pursuing her graduate studies in Fundamental Immunology.
She discussed her motivations for conducting scientific research while providing excellent tips for students who are considering graduate school.
Could you give us a “crash course” on cancer immunology?
Our immune systems are designed to recognize foreign pathogens and eliminate them to prevent manifestation of diseases. Cancerous cells, which are good cells turned “evil,” also fall under this category. To some extent, the immune system can eliminate them, but tumour cells find ways to survive and persist. The involvement of the immune system in cancer has led to therapeutic approaches, such as immune checkpoint blockade discovered by the 2018 Nobel Prize winners and adoptive T cell therapy. In simple terms, adoptive T cell therapy is a therapy whereby you harvest cytotoxic T cells from the patient’s tumour or blood, expand and/or modify them, then reinfuse them back into the patient to clear the tumour. Since tumours find ways to evade death, such as inducing an immunosuppressive microenvironment to limit the function of T cells, one of the focuses of our lab is studying how we can alter the transferred T cells to make them resistant to suppression imposed by elements of this microenvironment, which is what I worked on during my undergraduate thesis.
What is your main area of research?
My area of research is cancer immunology, which studies the immune system’s involvement in the progression and development of cancer, with the intent of using the immune system to combat cancer. Currently, I am rotating in 3 cancer immunology labs that are investigating the role of the immune system in 3 different cancers: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, mesothelioma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. It’s all super exciting as each lab is exploring different approaches to targeting the cancers.
Why did you choose to study cancer, specifically?
I don’t think I really had a specific reason for choosing to study cancer; it started off more as a fascination with the immune system and its ability to clear foreign pathogens. I participated in an immunotherapy conference in the winter of 1st year where I attended a talk provided by my undergraduate thesis supervisor, Dr. Ohashi. As a 1st year student with barely any knowledge on T cells, Dr. Ohashi broke down the concept of immunotherapy into digestible pieces and I was immediately convinced that immunotherapy would be THE solution for cancer. I was so amazed by how we can use our OWN cells to combat cancer. Like, how amazing are we? So from then on, I was interested in cancer immunotherapy.
Did you always know that you wanted a career in research?
I wouldn’t say that I always knew I wanted a career in research, since I had the foolish, inaccurate understanding of “research” being high school projects involving reading papers and compiling the information into one big story. I have learned over time that this is definitely not representative of all research projects. I do, however, really love learning and exploring, especially through hands-on activities. I was very privileged to have attended a high school with a biotechnology course where students were given the opportunity to explore different laboratory techniques like gel electrophoresis and PCR. Still, this is not an accurate portrayal of research. It was only during my undergraduate research experience that I really solidified my understanding of the field which resulted in me pursuing a career in research. During this journey, I was very lucky to have met the right mentors who really pushed and motivated me to pursue this path.
What advice do you have for students who want to pursue grad school?
It’s very important to have research experience. This is good for finding out if grad school is something you want to pursue and it helps you develop your scientific thinking and CV.
In terms of more general advice, do not be afraid to ask for help or to ask questions! You are never on your own. Ask your professors for research opportunities. Ask your professor questions about unclear lecture content. Ask your lab mates for help with a protocol that just doesn’t seem to be working. Ask your peers for help in your course work. Ask for support in both your academic and personal life. Ask away!
Hearing Kitty’s insights has changed my perceptions on basic science research and has inspired me to explore topics outside of my field of study. There are so many opportunities and it is up to us, as students, to be curious and seek them out! I hope to attend more scientific and academic conferences in the near future to learn more about current innovations in healthcare.
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