Tannishtha Reya is an Indian-born American cell and developmental biologist working in cancer research at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York. She has received numerous awards, including an

NIH The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

Director's Pioneer Award in 2009 and an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award in 2015. Reya is particularly known for co-authoring an influential publication in 2001 coining the term "

cancer stem cell Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are cancer cells (found within tumors or hematological cancers) that possess characteristics associated with normal stem cells, specifically the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample ...

" to describe a cancer cell that mirrors the properties of stem cells of healthy organs in the context of leukaemias or solid tumours.

Education

Reya was born in India and is the granddaughter of writers Buddhadeb Bose and

Protiva Bose Protiva Bose (also spelled Pratibha Basu; ) (March 13, 1915 – 13 October 2006) was a singer and one of the most prolific and widely read Bengali writers of novels, short stories, and essays. Biography She was born in a village near Dhaka in ...

. She moved to the US when she was seventeen to take a liberal arts degree at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in Massachusetts because she wanted to be "exposed to both literature and the sciences.". She then pursued her PhD in

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

under the guidance of Simon Carding. Reya conducted her postdoctoral research first in the laboratory of Rudolf Grosschedl at the

University of California San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

and then with

Irving Weissman Irving Lerner "Irv" Weissman (born Great Falls, Montana, October 21, 1939) is a Professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology at Stanford University where he is the Director of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medic ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Career

Reya is professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at

. Previously she was faculty at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. Her research on

acute myeloid leukaemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may inclu ...

explored the possibilities of targeting a cell surface molecule ( CD98) to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Her most recent research is in the field of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. She and her team are investigating the roles of immune system receptors and potential related therapies. Reya currently serves on the editorial board of the journal ''Science'' and has been the recipient of numerous grants, including

Stand Up to Cancer Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a charitable organization that was established as a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). In 2022, SU2C was separately incorporated and was recognized by the IRS as a Section 501(c)(3) public charit ...

grants in 2017 and 2019. In 2019, Reya was interviewed by the Stem Cell Podcast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reya, Tannishtha University of California, San Diego faculty 21st-century American women scientists Williams College alumni Cancer researchers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Indian emigrants to the United States University of Pennsylvania alumni Developmental biologists Cell biologists American women biologists 21st-century American biologists Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers