Meet GovadaPravallika, a promising mind who has pursued her Masters in Science from the esteemed Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, one of only six such institutions in India. Currently, she is delving deeper into the realm of Cancer Biology and Genomics for her PhD. She took a leap in her world of genetics and genomics and published a radical research- “Stage II oesophageal carcinoma: peril in disguise associated with cellular reprogramming and oncogenesis regulated by pseudogenes”
Her work on pseudogenes in esophageal carcinoma is nothing short of revolutionary. She is further trying to automate the identification of pseudogenes in cancer through ‘Artificial Intelligence’ which she presented as posters in 2 international conferences (EMBL Cancer Genomics and CSHL Genome Infromatics). It’s this kind of innovative thinking that earned her invitation to participate for a short talk to the prestigious National Cancer Institute (NCI), a part of National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, USA.
RashmiKumari of NSH posed a couple of questions to explore the journey of Pravallika, emphasizing her innovative contributions and the influence of her work on her areas of expertise as well as on the broader scope of scientific research
Can you explain the significance of your work on pseudogenes in esophageal carcinoma to a non-scientific audience?
Pseudogenes have long been considered “junk DNA” in simple words. However, years later, they have become crucial in cancer research because they can regulate numerous genes involved in cancer progression and metastasis. Also, very recent evidence showed that pseudogenes may produce novel proteins which can be used to target cancer cells precisely. This will reduce our dependency on harmful treatment options which cause toxic reactions or other long term effects within the body.
More importantly, despite having viable treatment options for esophageal carcinoma, the survival can go as low as 5%. And identifying pseudogenes that control esophageal cancer can help us significantly raise cancer treatment options that are in fact, safe too.
What inspired you to choose Cancer Biology and Genomics as your field of study?
Cancer is one of the most complex diseases with as many as 14 different characteristics. Unlike many non-communicable diseases, it cannot be reversed, and most patients face a lifelong risk of cancer.And, no matter how many treatment options are available, there is always some patient to whom the treatment does not fit perfectly.
Making a treatment plan that fits for each patient is only possible by studying their genome and understand the options to target all 14 characteristics of cancer. And that’s what I am trying to do, target as many characteristics of cancer as possible by studying the genome through pseudogenes.
How do you feel about being invited by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the US to present and share your research findings?
NCI is one of the most prestigious institutes across the world that has done remarkable progress in understanding cancer and designing clinical trials along with MSKCC. In fact, the publicly available data that most researchers work on in cancer genomics was created by ‘The TCGA Network’, a joint effort by NCI and National Human Genome Research Institute.
I was elated upon receiving an email invitation to join a distinguished group of researchers across the world who is working towards a shared goal of alleviating cancer. An opportunity to meet and share the platform with eminent scientists and exchanging knowledge at NCI SSACB 2024 is a great opportunity. And I hope to not only share but learn a great deal from everyone which would ultimately help us move forward in cancer research.
What are the potential implications of your research for the treatment of esophageal carcinoma?
Pseudogenes are very specific to a tissue or a cancer type and in the context of cancer they seem to even produce novel proteins. Targeting these pseudogenes through T-cell immunotherapy or by designing novel peptide vaccines specific to esophageal cancer could provide an opportunity to design patient specific treatment options and hopefully increase the survival rate from a dismal 5%.
Can you share some of the challenges you’ve faced during your research and how you overcame them?
One of the greatest challenges that I had faced is of my shift from a cell biologist to a cancer bioinformatician. Transitioning from wet lab to dry lab can be challenging without a solid foundation.
Thus, my journey began with establishing a strong foundation to formulate my objectives. While learning the methods, be it as simple as a small python-based code or as big as artificial intelligence based module, I decided to learn everything and anything during the pandemic from various online sources including Coursera or YouTube to try and solve my objectives.
Upon completing one objective, I proceeded to formulate another, continually learning new skills to address each new challenge. And I truly believe that this constant learning process that I took part in is what helped me move forward in my research.
What future developments do you foresee in the field of Cancer Biology and Genomics?
There is already a great deal of technological advancement that is underway in order to cure cancer. Genomic reprogramming or cell reprogramming using CRISPR has already been given a green flag to cure several diseases, one of which is in fact cancer. As we advance with a focus on pseudogenes or neoantigens, the prospects only improve, given their demonstrated potential in enhancing our understanding of cancer.
