Dr. Aideen Ryan
Cancer Immunologist.
Dr Aideen Ryan is a cancer immunologist, working at NUI Galway. Her motivation is driven by a desire to optimise and enhance the use of immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer for patients in Ireland.
Dr Ryan leads the Cancer Immunology Research Group at NUI Galway that focuses on understanding how the colorectal cancer micro-environment influences immune responses. Advances in the use of immunotherapy for colorectal cancer (CRC), the second most commonly diagnosed and deadly cancer worldwide, have been largely unsuccessful. The key to finding new immunotherapies is in understanding how cells within the tumor communicate with our immune system.
With over 10 years’, experience in stromal cell immunology and research in understanding how these cells behave and respond to various microenvironments, both in vitro and in vivo, Dr Ryans’ lab now focusses on understanding the immune/stromal cell contexture of the colon tumour microenvironment including:
- Investigation of Tumour-stromal cell interactions and subsequent effects on immune cell infiltration
- Role of Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) in tumour cell immune evasion in the colon cancer microenvironment
- Influence of stromal cell activation and glycosylation on immune cell infiltration in colon tumours
- Sensitizing the tumour microenvironment to immunotherapeutic targeting
"In recent years, we have discovered the contribution of stromal cells in aiding the tumour to avoid destruction by the immune system. These mechanisms represent novel targets that will now inform ways to enhance immunotherapy responses in colorectal cancer patients. My research vision is to translate knowledge from recent discoveries to new clinical trials for colorectal cancer patients."
Recently successful with a future leader award, having secured over €3M in funding, Dr Ryan’s research aims to uncover new ways to restore immune cell function in colorectal cancer, with the aim of improving therapeutic options and outcomes for CRC patients. Dr Ryan leads a team of talented researchers that use patient samples to identify immunosuppressive features in the tumour microenvironment; they then use these features to inform the development of 3D multi-cell models to investigate novel ways to improve immune cell activation.
Dr Ryan is a named inventor on patents, one of which has informed clinical trials to enhance immune responses using novel combinations of immunotherapies. The clinical trial and the translational study (CyBorD-DARA trial 16-BCNI-001/CTRIAL-IE 16-02 study) are published in leading Cancer immunology journals, Blood Advances and OncoImmunology. As part of these studies, Dr Ryan and collaborators discovered that novel combinations of low dose chemotherapy with immunotherapies, such as monoclonal antibody therapy, result in better anti-tumour responses and better patient outcomes.
With her passion for mentorship and training, Dr Ryan’s research programme provides education and training in the exciting field of onco-immunology, in addition to strengthening the reputation of Irish immune-oncology research. Dr Ryan takes a multidisciplinary collaborative approach to answering her research questions. She has formed a wide network of industry and academic collaborations with leading experts in immuno-oncology internationally.
Dr Ryan's lab is funded through Science Foundation Ireland, Health Research Board, Irish Research Council, Irish Cancer Society, Industry and international funding initiatives.
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