The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has presented two awards to further diversity, equity, and inclusion in cancer research to the Escobar-Hoyos Lab, under the direction of Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, MSc, PhD.
Dr. Escobar-Hoyos is the 2022 recipient of an AACR Career Development Award. The AACR Career Development Award is intended to further diversity, equity, and inclusion in Cancer Research and has been established to support the development of highly talented cancer researchers from under-represented groups. The Escobar-Hoyos laboratory recently discovered that pancreatic cancers are exquisitely susceptible to a range of therapies directed at RNA splicing. Dr. Escobar-Hoyos will use the AACR award to continue her research and specifically to characterize the role of RNA splicing factor mutations in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and treatment response. These results will uncover a fundamental, yet novel non-mutational mechanism required for pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and tumor maintenance: altered RNA splicing.
A postdoctoral associate in the Escobar-Hoyos laboratory, Natasha Pinto Medici, PhD, is the recipient of a 2022 AACR Career Development Award to further diversity, equity, and inclusion in cancer research. Originally from Brazil, Dr. Pinto Medici obtained her undergraduate and master’s degrees in immunology from Universidad Federal do Rio de Janeiro. After being awarded with a competitive Brazilian fellowship for studies abroad, she came to the USA and obtained her PhD in molecular genetics and microbiology from Stony Brook University. Currently she researches the molecular regulation of immunity in pancreatic cancer in the Escobar-Hoyos laboratory.