A team of researchers has shown for the first time that fasting can reprogram the metabolism of natural killer cells, helping them to survive in the harsh environment in and around tumors, while also improving their cancer-fighting ability.
Rebecca Delconte
Rebecca Delconte is a postdoctoral fellow working in the lab of immunologist Joseph Sun in the Sloan Kettering Institute. She is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at MSK Postdoctoral Fellowship, which will provide two years of financial support.
Dr. Delconte’s research focuses on the metabolic pathways of immune cells called natural killer (NK) cells, which play an important role in controlling cancer. In an interview in March 2021, she spoke about what motivates her as a scientist and how she came to her specific research interests.
When did you know you wanted to be a scientist?