Brandon Emanuel León is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Sheila and David Fuente Graduate Program in Cancer Biology at the Miller School. He’s currently a member of the Bayik Lab, run by Defne Bayik, Ph.D., an assistant professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology and a researcher at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research focuses on glioblastoma, one of the deadliest and most aggressive forms of brain cancer, for which there are no effective, long-term treatments. In his search for a treatment, León is repurposing FDA-approved drugs originally designed for other diseases. He spoke about his work, as well as the necessity and value of funding to support life-saving research.
How did glioblastoma become the focus of your research?
I’m fascinated by the brain. It’s very complicated and unknown. It’s like the ocean — we’ve only scratched the surface of what we know about it. When I did different department rotations during my first year in the Ph.D. program and learned that Defne’s cancer biology lab was studying glioblastoma, it was a perfect fit for me. Compared to other types of cancer, such as breast cancer, where there’s been so much progress and survivors live for decades, that’s not the reality with glioblastoma. The average patient survives just 15 months after diagnosis, and less than 10% survive more than five years.
Can you describe your research project?
I’m trying to understand how glioblastoma cells interact with normal, noncancerous cells in the brain. Astrocytes, star-shaped glial cells of the central nervous system, for example, are reprogrammed in glioblastoma to actually help the cancer grow and resist chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Through my research, hopefully we can identify potential therapeutic targets by using FDA-approved drugs that reverse the tumor-promoting function. If not, we can collaborate with chemists to develop new drugs.
Talk about the funding sources for the Bayik Lab and the importance, in general, of maintaining cancer research funding.
The vast majority of our funding comes from federal government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, along with some from the Florida Department of Health. People need to know that their taxes benefit the public, because basic academic research like ours goes on to be translated into cancer treatments and, hopefully, cures. Those funds also support jobs, not only for researchers, but also to cover indirect costs, such as lab equipment, animal housing and administrative staff. For everyone’s sake, the flow of research funds must continue.
“Through my research, hopefully we can identify potential therapeutic targets by using FDA-approved drugs that reverse the tumor-promoting function.”
