Sanford Research Receives American Cancer Society Grant To Study Ovarian Cancer

Pilar de la Puente, PhD

Pilar de la Puente, PhD and her lab of researchers at Sanford Research recently received a $792,000 grant from the American Cancer Society. In addition, Dr. de la Puente was named an American Cancer Society ResearchHER Scholar, a distinguished honor from the ACS recognizing trailblazing women researchers.

The focus of the lab’s four-year American Cancer Society Researcher’s Scholar Grant is to study a novel set of biomarkers and their role in progression and drug resistance in ovarian cancer.

“We are thrilled to be awarded the first American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant in South Dakota,” said Dr. Pilar de la Puente, associate scientist at Sanford Research. “We will be spending these next four years working on a novel biomarker panel for early detection in ovarian cancer and markers associated with chemotherapy resistance.”  

“The American Cancer Society has invested more than $5 billion in cancer research,” said Andy Link, American Cancer Society associate director for Cancer Centers in Nebraska, Iowa and the Dakotas. “This money goes to incredibly talented organizations and researchers who are doing cutting-edge medical research that will help patients across the country and potentially across the world.” 

Dr. de la Puente’s lab focuses on the role of tumor microenvironment (TME) in cancer progression, drug resistance and cancer immunology. Her lab is also developing personalized 3D models of the tumor microenvironment in order to more accurately mimic cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Through these culture models, they hope to gain a deeper understanding of the role of the tumor microenvironment and their accessory cells during cancer progression, drug resistance and cancer immunology for each individual patient. 

Dr. Pilar de la Puente received her PhD at University of Salamanca in Spain in the field of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences. 

For more information about Sanford Research, visit Research.SanfordHealth.org.