2021 Grant Recipient Shannon Oda, PhD
2021 Grantee: Shannon Oda, PhD
Seattle Children’s Research Institute, University of Washington
Research Project:
Developing Engineered Proteins to Enhance Adoptive Cell Therapy of PDA
Award: 2021 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Career Development Award made possible by Linda E. Amuso in memory of Susan A. Lombardi
Award Period: July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2023
Amount: $200,000
Biographical Highlights
After receiving her undergraduate degree at Linfield College, Dr. Oda conducted research at a biotech company in Oregon, with a focus on treating diabetes in a mouse model. She completed her doctorate under the guidance of Raul Torres, PhD, at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and National Jewish Health, where she described new immune-based pathways to control tumor progression in mice. Dr. Oda worked as a postdoctoral fellow and Research Associate in the lab of Philip Greenberg, MD, recipient of the 2016 PanCAN Translational Research Grant, funded in memory of Abby Sobrato, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington. There, she focused on improving the persistence and efficacy of adoptive cell therapy by adding co-stimulatory proteins to T-cell receptor constructs.