GW-SPARC Students Connect Cancer Research with Community Impact

The George Washington University (GW) Summer Program Advancing Research on Cancer (GW-SPARC) concluded its annual summer research experience on July 30 with a poster session where students presented their summer research. Undergraduate students from colleges across the country spent the summer working in GW laboratories, studying cancer data and exploring how research can shape patient care and communities. 

“This is a really vibrant program leading our scholars to continue a career in cancer research, whether that is in medical school, PhD programs, or biotechnology,” said Alison Hall, PhD, senior associate dean for research. The participants, she added “spend their summer immersed in hands-on laboratory experiences, focusing on cutting-edge cancer research techniques and addressing the cancer burden in our community.”

The annual poster session marked the conclusion of this year’s GW-SPARC program. Students from Wellesley College, the University of Virginia, Carleton College, Cornell University, Howard University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Tennessee State University participated, along with GW undergraduates and high school students conducting research in cancer, neuroscience, biomedical engineering and other laboratories across the university.

GW-SPARC, supported in part by the American Cancer Society Center for Innovation in Cancer Research Training (DICR INTR-24-1297242-01-DICR INTR) and through the GW Cancer Center, has been a cornerstone program at SMHS since 2018. The 10-week experience gives students an introduction to the work of a research scientist, combining laboratory research with seminars and workshops covering topics from experimental design to applying to graduate and medical schools. 

The program focuses on the impact of cancer in our community through a book club, movie and study of cancer burden in our region. This year, students discussed health care through, “How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America,” by Otis Brawley, MD, professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University. Issues in the bioethics of cancer research were explored following the movie, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” 

Students also used the GW Cancer Center’s Cancer Center Data Visualizer to examine population-based cancer data from the center’s catchment area. Each student used this interactive tool to connect research findings with patterns in cancer across different communities.

For Arlene Franco, a rising senior at Wellesley College, that combination was a major reason she chose GW-SPARC. Franco worked in the laboratory of Jiyoung Lee, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine, studying how lysine lactylation of BACH1 may promote invasion in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive subtype that disproportionately affects Black women, Hispanic women, women younger than 40 and women with a BRCA1 mutation. Franco’s experiments examined whether lactate could regulate BRCA1 and whether lactylation of the protein could increase the ability of cancer cells to invade surrounding tissue.

Her project used a series of laboratory techniques, including BRCA1 knockout cells, protein analysis and a transwell invasion assay. The results, she said, indicated that lactate increased the cancer’s ability to attack nearby cells, while reducing BRCA1 decreased it. 

Franco was already interested in cancer biology before arriving at GW for the summer, but added that she is now considering a future in pediatric or gynecologic oncology. The program’s work with cancer data offered Franco a clearer view of how factors outside the laboratory can affect patients.

“Learning how social determinants like English proficiency can shape cancer incidence really stood out to me. It’s something I’ll carry forward as I think about caring for patients in the future.”

Franco said the experience also showed her the value of mentorship. She described Lee and the members of the laboratory as attentive to different approaches to learning.

“Every student has a different learning style,” Franco said, adding that Lee and her lab team did “a really good job of understanding or meeting people where they’re at.”

Leander Quiroz, a rising senior at Carleton College, also came to GW-SPARC looking for a program that connected laboratory research with community involvement. He worked in the laboratory of Katherine Chiappinelli, PhD, associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine, on a project examining DNMT and PTPN1/2 inhibition as a potential combination therapy for ovarian cancer.

Quiroz studied whether combining the two approaches could produce a stronger effect and activate an immune response. His work showed promising results in two cell lines, although the effects varied depending on the cell line. The combination treatment also led to degradation of the PTPN protein, as expected.

The summer built on Quiroz’s earlier research experience at the Hormel Institute in Minnesota and gave him more responsibility in the laboratory.

“This has been invaluable, honestly. It’s been awesome,” he said. “When I was looking for programs for the summer, I was specifically looking for something with community outreach or some level of community involvement and emphasis. I felt like [GW-SPARC] was a good fit for me and what I was looking for.”

The structure of the program, Quiroz added, gave him room to work independently while still having support when he needed it.

“I was going into the lab every day, working independently and it was great,” he said.

The experience changed how Quiroz viewed his ability to conduct and communicate research and left him feeling “confident enough to go into a lab, do experiments, and present my results and back them up.”

That progression from guided research to independent work is central to what GW-SPARC aims to provide. The program also seeks to keep students connected to the larger research community at GW.

Hall described that goal directly, calling the program an “unabashed attempt to recruit these students to our MD and PhD programs so they might continue their research here.” 

As he congratulated the students on their presentations, Edward J. Balleisen, PhD, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said the experience can continue to shape students’ careers after they leave GW.

“[SPARC] is demonstrating enormous impact on the lives of the students who encounter it, along with the other undergraduate research programs at GW. People who go through this program often end up presenting their work at national conferences. After completing college, five out of six go on to pursue careers in science and particularly in health sciences.”