Susana Garcia Recio, PhD (Assistant Professor, Genetics) was recognized by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) as a recipient of the Marion R. Wright Award for Scientific Excellence.
With this award, she plans to continue her research focused on several aims: (1) using bulk, single-cell sequencing RNAseq in combination with spatial transcriptomics technology used in mouse models and multiple matched primary and metastatic tumors, she aims to understand why the PDX model (HER2E/FGFR4+ tumor) finds the liver the perfect niche to grow; (2) use in vivo mouse models to better understand the role of JAM3 in the metastatic process; and (3) perform bulk-RNAseq and digital spatial profiling (DSP) on several paired primary-metastatic samples from the UNC’s BCRF-supported Rapid Autopsy Program (RAP) and around 70 metastasis to look at the intra- and inter-tumor heterogeneity assayed by PAM50 subtype and immune cell content. Dr. Garcia Recio plans to conduct Spatial Multiomics Single-Cell Imaging (CosMx) on the same paired samples to compare the tumor microenvironment of different sites of metastasis and have a deeper understanding of the organ-specific effects on immune cell infiltration.