What does the DNA of a T-Rex and a strawberry have in common? They both excite this immunologist, who researches brain tumours at University College Cork.
After more than a decade working abroad, Dr Lily Keane recently returned to her alma mater, University College Cork (UCC), to take up a position at APC Microbiome Ireland, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre based in Cork.
Keane has a BSc in genetics from UCC, an MSc in translational cancer medicine from King’s College London and a PhD from Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University. Following this, she undertook a number of postdoctoral positions, with her most recent being at Bertrand Joseph’s Lab at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, where she researched microglia (immune cells found in the brain and spinal cord) and brain tumours such as the paediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and adult glioblastoma. She is continuing this important research at UCC with the help of a €360,000 research award from the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation.
Tell us about your current research.
My previous work during my postdoc at the Karolinska Institute showed that the immune cells of the brain, called microglia, help DIPG tumour cells to grow and spread into neighbouring brain areas. My research programme at APC will further build on these important findings, focusing on strategies for targeting and depleting different types of microglia present in DIPG. I will examine the interplay between these specialised microglia cells and the DIPG tumour cells and characterise the signals that promote DIPG growth. By combining novel immunotherapies targeting microglia, with radiation or chemotherapy, it’s my hope to improve survival outcomes for young DIPG patients.
In your opinion, why is your research important?
DIPG is the leading cause of brain tumour-related deaths in children. Annually, between 5 and 10 children in Ireland are diagnosed with DIPG, with the standard of care limited to radiation, which only mitigates symptoms temporarily. New treatment options are, therefore, desperately needed.
What inspired you to become a researcher?
When I was a child, I was totally obsessed with the movie Jurassic Park – especially the scenes where they talked about cloning and DNA. I think this was the first thing that sparked my interest in science at a young age. When I was in secondary school, like a lot of students, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in university, as I also loved history and philosophy. I went to the University College Cork open day when I was 16, and I was trying to decide what to pursue and they had a new program at the time called genetics. The talk was amazing, fascinating, exciting, inspiring and that was it – decision made.
What are some of the biggest challenges or misconceptions you face as a researcher in your field?
I think sometimes it can feel a bit lonely as a scientist – especially if nobody in your immediate family is in that field – as it can sometimes be hard to explain what you’re working on. That has been a bit of challenge at times over the years, but it has also helped me work on how I explain my research to the public as I can always have a practice on my mum first.
Do you think public engagement with science and data has changed in recent years?
I think people are more aware of the importance of basic and translational research since the pandemic, especially with Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023 for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19.
How do you encourage engagement with your own work?
I love interacting with school children and getting them excited about science! One of my favourite things to do with them is to extract DNA from strawberries. It’s easy and strawberries have so much DNA they can actually see when it separates, and they always really enjoy it.
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