The Science of Hope
Dr. Pilar de la Puente's Mission to Change the Outlook for Women's Cancers
By Alex Strauss
Dr. Pilar de la Puente
Most people dread Monday mornings. Dr. Pilar de la Puente lives for them.
"I love my job. I am the happiest person," says the biomedical engineer and cancer biologist at Sanford Research. "When it gets to Monday, I am happy to go to work. I am always excited to hear from my lab members. When we have a breakthrough, I dance."
This infectious enthusiasm isn't just personality—it's fuel for one of the most promising cancer research programs in the region. Between juggling three young children and leading a lab focused on some of the most challenging questions in oncology, she brings an energy and commitment that's reshaping how researchers understand and fight women's cancers.
That joy has lately had good reason to express itself. This past year, Dr. de la Puente received recognition that puts her—and Sanford Research—squarely on the national map for cancer research.
Taking on Chemoresistance
The latest reason to celebrate is a 7-year MERIT (Method to Extend Research In Time) Award from the National Institutes of Health in support of the de la Puente lab's work on ovarian cancer.
The grant will provide $2.75 million over the first five years and nearly $4 million over the entire seven. Unlike typical research grants, the R37 cannot even be applied for—researchers must be selected by the NIH, a distinction reserved for the top one to two percent of scientists in their field.
The grant represents not just financial support but validation of an approach that challenges conventional thinking about cancer treatment.
"What we have learned in the lab is that it is very important to understand not only the cancer cells and how they work but also the environment they are in," she explains. "What they are surrounded by is really important, especially in breast and ovarian tumors. If you think about cancer as the seed, the environment around it is like the soil. Chemotherapy affects both the seed and the soil."
The problem is that while chemotherapy kills cancer cells, it also fundamentally alters the tumor environment in ways that can make the cancer even more resistant when it returns. Chemotherapy is still the primary treatment for ovarian cancer, but recurrence is common. Dr. de la Puente's lab is looking for ways to block changes in the tumor environment, allowing chemotherapy to work better and for longer.
From Spain to SD
Dr. de la Puente's path to cancer research was not a straight one. Born and raised in León, Spain, she was drawn to biology and health, but didn't want to treat patients.
"I love to build things," she says. Professors suggested biomedical engineering, which would give her the opportunity to still work in healthcare but with a different "toolkit". "That was the greatest advice," says de la Puente.
Dr. de la Puente earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences at the University of Salamanca, then trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in cancer tissue engineering, nanomedicine, and translational precision-based drug screenings. When she was first tasked with solving a cancer-related question, something clicked.
"I realized that cancer was so unique and usually doesn't have the toolkit that biomedical engineering can provide," she says. "It was challenging but once I got a hold of it, I loved it."
A Three-Front War
The chemoresistance work represents just one piece of de la Puente's comprehensive cancer research. Her lab tackles the disease from three additional interconnected angles, each addressing a critical gap in current cancer care.
Searching for Biomarkers
Early symptoms of ovarian cancer—bloating, abdominal discomfort, fatigue—mirror common experiences for women in their 50s and 60s, making the disease notoriously difficult to catch in its early stages.
As an American Cancer Society Research Scholar, Dr. de la Puente is working to identify biomarkers that could lead to earlier diagnosis.
"If ovarian cancer is caught in Stage 1, the survival rate is 90 percent," she emphasizes. Finding reliable biomarkers could transform those statistics, catching cancer when it's most treatable.
Turning Cold Tumors Hot
immunotherapy has revolutionized care for some cancers, but it largely fails in breast and ovarian cancer.
Dr. de la Puente's team is working to understand why these tumors are immunologically "cold"—meaning they lack the immune cells needed to respond to immunotherapy. By recreating these cold tumors in the lab, they can test strategies to transform them into "hot" tumors that the immune system can recognize and attack.
Understanding Metastasis
The third front examines one of cancer's most deadly characteristics: its ability to spread. Using microfluidics technology, de la Puente studies how tumor cells travel through the blood. More intriguingly, her lab is investigating why certain cancer cells seem drawn to specific sites in the body.
"Is there something about the area that is attractive to these cells?," she asks. Understanding these patterns could reveal new targets for preventing cancer's spread.
Recognition and Impact
The accolades have been piling up. This fall, Dr. de la Puente received an International Excellence Award from her hometown of León, Spain, recognizing distinguished individuals who have brought honor to their community through outstanding contributions in their professional field. The award, given by the Economist College Association and Fundacion Monteleón, required a quick three-day trip back to Spain.
"I love the award but I love even more the chance to see my family," she says.
But perhaps more meaningful is what these awards represent for her adopted home. Dr. de la Puente is only the third recipient of an American Cancer Society Research Scholar grant in South Dakota's history. The NIH MERIT grant further elevates Sanford Research's profile on the national stage.
"It has happened that I have been able to get great success here in this place that fewer people know about," she says with a laugh. "I have to explain to my friends where South Dakota is."
Beyond the research itself, Dr. de la Puente is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists. She serves as chair of the health equity and experience committee at Sanford Research and has taken on an advocacy role for contemporary role models in science.
When she was invited to participate in "Cancer Wars," a comic book series featuring Hispanic women in cancer research, she jumped at the opportunity. The book has been distributed in both Spain and the United States, and Dr. de la Puente has conducted virtual calls with schools in multiple countries to discuss it.
"The only woman anyone thinks about in science is Marie Curie," she says. "But students need to know that there are more contemporary people."
Research in Unexpected Places
There's a certain irony to Dr. de la Puente's success in South Dakota. While colleagues back in Spain struggle to locate her state on a map, she's discovered unexpected advantages to conducting cutting-edge research in a rural environment.
"Living and working in a more rural environment gives me opportunities to study underrepresented populations," she explains. "I can get samples from Native Americans, which is not possible in other places. It is a great location for research. We just need to be better known."
Recent grants and awards for de la Puente's lab and others are helping. Sanford Research is gaining a reputation in the national cancer research community. The newest grant will allow the de la Puente lab to train more new researchers locally, building capacity for the future.
"We are advancing science. That is what is most important," she says. "This could mean better opportunities for treatment of women in the future."
For a researcher who dances when breakthroughs happen, that future can't come soon enough. Having lost friends and her own mother to cancer, Dr. de la Puente knows better than most the vital importance of the answers she's seeking.
And every Monday morning, she shows up ready to find them.