Patricia Sancho: “Research is a long-distance career and requires a lot of training”

The IIS Aragón researcher talks in this interview about her work leading the 'Metabolism and Tumor Stem Cells' Group (GIIS107) and the challenges they face

Dr. in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Patricia Sancho Andrés, joined the Aragón Health Research Institute in 2017 after discovering its existence while exploring the ARAID program. "When I saw the researchers they had on staff and the level of research being done, I was encouraged to try my luck with the Miguel Servet program and the truth is that I couldn't be happier with my decision," explains Sancho.  

Although she is from Zaragoza, Patricia has developed her research career between Madrid, Barcelona and abroad. Different destinations that have allowed her to continue with the purpose that she had set for herself since she was a child: to cure cancer. Currently, she leads the Metabolism and Tumor Stem Cells Group at the IIS Aragón, where she, together with her team, investigates new strategies for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

What lines of research are being worked on in your group?

In my group we look for treatments that can be applied to pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive today. For this, we focus on studying how the metabolism of tumors affects their development and response to treatments. Additionally, we try to use drugs that are already used today to treat other diseases, so that if we find a drug that works, it can be tested on patients as quickly as possible. We also have a smaller line of research, but with similar objectives, focused on medulloblastoma, a childhood brain cancer that can be very aggressive. On the other hand, in the group we are committed to make science and research visible and we are very committed to divulgation in early stages such as schools and institutes.

What is the main challenge your research group is currently facing?

As often happens in many research groups, our main challenge is maintain a stable team since financing to hire staff is scarce and difficult to obtain. The size of the group varies greatly over the years or even over the course of a year, since the contracts are temporary and short, which means that many highly specialized profiles are lost, and we dedicate a lot of resources training new people every so often. time.

Any ongoing projects that you would like to highlight?

The project to which we dedicate the most resources and efforts today is focused on studying how the fat can produce resistance to antitumor therapies in pancreatic cancer, both the fat that is ingested in the diet, as well as that accumulated in adipose tissue or even the fat from tumors. Finding a way to modify our diet or use drugs that prevent fat from interfering with treatments could help patients respond much better to treatments or even reduce the necessary doses of drugs so that there are not as many side effects.

What profiles make up your research team?

My work team currently consists of three doctors y five doctoral students, all of them with studies that are included in the area of ​​Biomedicine: Biology, Biomedicine, Biochemistry and Biotechnology. Within this area, the fields of knowledge are diverse and range from cellular metabolism or immunology to biomedical engineering.

Why should companies bet on research, and specifically, on your group?

In research every euro counts, and even small donations They can have a very important impact on a group's research. For example, in our group it has allowed us to finance attendance at a conference where a new collaboration begins or a training course that allows us to learn a new technique, pay for some experiments or reagents, or even finance a small research project... Our group works at maximum performance and we make the most of every euro to be able have an impact on life expectancy of patients with pancreatic cancer y medulloblastoma. In the end, betting on research is betting on health, including your future health.

Advice for someone starting out in healthcare research?

Research is a long-distance race and requires a lot of training, so don't be in a hurry and enjoy the process.