Rossymar Rivera was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Cancer Institute which began on September 1, 2026. Rossymar received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce. Rossymar is doctoral candidate in Cancer Biology in the lab of Dr. Kristin Anderson. We asked Rossymar to tell us about her research and hopes for the future.
Tell us about your research:
The Anderson lab develops engineered T cell therapies that can recognize and kill ovarian cancer cells, while studying how tumors create barriers that prevent these therapies from working effectively. My research focuses on one of these barriers by studying a molecule called the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR), which can act as a “brake” on the immune response. We have found that blocking A2AR helps engineered T cells function better within ovarian tumors. My project aims to understand how this pathway shapes the tumor environment and how targeting it can strengthen T cell therapy. Ultimately, I hope this work contributes to more effective immunotherapies for ovarian cancer and other solid tumors that use similar mechanisms to evade the immune system.
What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?
Science was a passion of mine from a young age, but it became deeply personal through my father’s experience with cancer. He was diagnosed with a blood cancer at a time when treatment options were much more limited and seeing how far cancer research has advanced since then has shown me the impact scientific discovery can have on patients’ lives. Over time, that personal connection grew into a genuine curiosity about how cancer interacts with the immune system and why some therapies succeed while others fail. I want to address these questions and contribute to discoveries that could change how we understand and treat cancer.
What are your future goals?
My future goal is to build a career where I can continue contributing to cancer research and the development of better therapies for patients. I hope to lead a research group addressing important questions in cancer biology, mentor the next generation of scientists, and continue advocating for greater representation and opportunities for Latinas in STEM.
Congratulations, Rossymar!