The field of cancer immunotherapy has reached an exciting point, said Karolina Palucka, MD, PhD, an investigator at Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR), in a recent Nature interview. Optimism is high. Opportunities are ripe. Progress has been extraordinary.
“This is the best time for our research,” Dr. Palucka told the esteemed science journal in the Dec. 19 article. And given the advancements generated by dendritic cell vaccines chronicled in the Q&A piece, there is no doubt that’s true.
As investigator at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, director of the Ralph M. Steinman Center for Cancer Vaccines and the Michael A. Ramsay Chair for Cancer Immunology Research, Dr. Palucka has been a revered expert in her field for years.
Among her achievements: leading several clinical trials in experimental cancer vaccines, publishing more than 100 research articles and collaborating with Dr. Ralph Steinman, the Nobel Prize winner who fought his own battle with pancreatic cancer and is the namesake of the vaccine center that Dr. Palucka now directs.
In the Nature interview, Dr. Palucka answers the writer's questions related to dendritic cells, including her own experience treating Dr. Steinman, who was also a friend and colleague. Other insightful topics discussed include preventive cancer vaccines and using dendritic cells to combat risks that stem from genetic triggers such as the BRCA mutation, which heightens the risk for breast and ovarian cancers.
Nature is considered to be one of the most significant journals for research publication. The December 2013 issue was devoted to cancer immunotherapy, and in addition to running the full-length article on their website, the publication also Tweeted about it, using the hashtag #OutlookCancerImmuno. Congratulations to Dr. Palucka on this achievement!
To read the full article, click here.
About Baylor Research Institute
Baylor Research Institute (www.baylorhealth.edu/Research/) is the research component of the Baylor Health Care System (www.baylorhealth.com). Established in 1984, Baylor Research Institute promotes and supports research to bring innovative treatments from the laboratory workbench to the patient bedside. Baylor Research Institute focuses on basic science, clinical trials, healthcare effectiveness and quality-of-care research. Today, Baylor Research Institute is conducting more than 800 active research protocols with 250 research investigators, spanning more than 20 medical specialties, and has research and development projects in areas ranging from human immunology and orphan metabolic diseases to diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and many other unmet medical needs.
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