Débora Vendramini-Costa, Ph.D

That’s me ready to be discharged, leaving work through the front door as a patient, and finally spending Christmas with my loved ones! Thank you for the messages and good wishes! Recovery ❤️‍🩹 will be slow and painful, but I am CANCER FREE!!! #survivingBreastCancer

As a pancreatic cancer doc, cannot understate the gravity of this moment. I get chills at the prospect that we will imminently have something else to offer our patients with real clinical impact. @AACR #AACR26 @RevMedicines

Headed to #AACR26, the same week we had practice changing clinical trial data in #PancreaticCancer with a KRAS inhibitor. Reminded of this critique that @Pasca_Lab received on her grant in 2013 - "There are not, and will never be, KRAS inhibitors". Keep calm & science on!

@AndrewMWaters @Run4Purple Congratulations Andrew!!!!

This is perhaps my most rewarding grant! @Run4Purple stepping up to support our research ideas and the PhD students in the lab! Training the next generation of pancreatic cancer researchers while moving the needle!

Hello friends!!! Helps us to celebrate pancreatic cancer survivors, patients and their families!!! Help us to raise funds for this cause!!! Any donation is appreciated!!! Let's take steps together at PurpleStride! secure.pancan.org/site/TR/Purple…

There is not a better feeling than the one seeing your former trainees thrive! Congratulations to the amazing @RAFrancescone A true #RisingStar in the #PancreaticCancer #tumorMicroenvironment and #metabolism field.

@CollaSimona @RAFrancescone Congratulations on a great score! But yeah, things are unpredictable, unfortunately.

@DebVendramini @RAFrancescone Good luck. I got 5 and i could not see a single dollars since last just

In the middle of world chaos, it is always nice to hear good news! I am especially proud of these news, because I know first hand all the hard work and dedication involved. Congratulations @RAFrancescone on an *outstanding* score on your *first* R01.

Our lab is recruiting both a postdoc and research technician to start in May/June! If you know anyone interested in investigating mechanisms of metastasis and immune suppression in cancer through developing innovative mouse models and studying senescence, please spread the word!

@nyulangone @Aiims1742 @Perlmutter_CC Congratulations Anirban!!!!

We’re excited to announce that Anirban Maitra, MD (@Aiims1742)—a pre-eminent physician-scientist whose work has widely influenced the field of pancreatic cancer research—has been appointed the new director of @Perlmutter_CC here at NYU Langone. For more: bit.ly/4t2xDD2

The most highly cited paper of the year is out! Cancer Statistics 2026 from @AmericanCancer in @CACancerJournal acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/ca… "In summary, decades of scientific investment have translated to longer lives for people with even the most fatal cancers" - let's keep going!

Despite the many real & painful challenges that remain, 2025 was another year with remarkable advances in #PancreaticCancer research & clinical care. I summarized my list of top ten peer reviewed publications. Apologies to the many deserving papers & authors not here, please add!

@Aiims1742 @HPolymenis @letswinpc Oh no!!!!!! 😥

Second piece of awful news related to #PancreaticCancer today - I mourn the passing of my friend and fierce patient advocate @HPolymenis. Helene was a real force of nature, and constantly pushed her colleagues in cancer research to do better. @letswinpc legacy.com/us/obituaries/…

@LindaCPhD Enjoy your holidays! Wishing you a beautiful 2026!

Closing out 2025 with gratitude. It's been a tough year, but I am grateful for my friends and colleagues who support and believe in me. ❤️ Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season. #HappyHolidays #Christmas2025

@DelgiornoKathy Ugh!! 🤷🏻‍♀️

"Competitive Not Discussed" seems like a bit of an oxymoron...

@Marcus_Ruscetti @UMassChan Happy holidays to you and your family!

@DebVendramini @UMassChan Thanks Deb! Hope all is well and Happy Holidays.

Unexpected news to end 2025. I have been promoted to Associate Professor @UMassChan! Thanks to all the colleagues, mentors, and collaborators here and abroad who have contributed to my and the lab's development, as well as our amazing lab members who make doing science a joy!

#ScienceSaturday ❓ How do scientists find the immune cells that are truly fighting a tumor? ➡️ A new @Nature study reveals that powerful tumor-killing T cells may be hiding in plain sight, not as single cells, but in clusters attached to tumor cells or antigen-presenting cells. These clusters, often filtered out during traditional cell-sorting, contain CD8 T cells that are more tumor-reactive, more activated and more effective than typical T cells found alone. ➡️ Using advanced flow cytometry and single-cell sequencing, researchers showed that these clustered T cells carry gene signatures linked to strong anti-tumor activity, high TCR clonality (a marker of targeted immune response), and increased ability to kill cancer cells. In fact, T cells taken from clusters were up to nine times more potent at destroying tumor cells compared to single T cells. ➡️ Even more exciting: when these cluster-derived T cells were expanded and tested in mice, they infiltrated tumors more efficiently and significantly slowed tumor growth, showing promise for improving adoptive T-cell therapies. 🌟 Congratulations to senior author Daniel S. Peeper and the collaborative teams at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Oncode Institute, VIB Center for Cancer Biology, University of Gothenburg, Harry Perkins Institute and others for uncovering a new path to potentially strengthen TIL therapy and immunotherapy outcomes. @d_peeper @vib_ccb @oncodeinstitute @NKI_nl @uniofgothenburg @PerkinsComms Read more here: doi.org/10.1038/s41586…

@Marcus_Ruscetti @linzhou0515 @katcmurph @CD_AACR @CR_AACR @ChaitanyaParik Wow!! Congratulations!!!!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to celebrate recent lab member accomplishments. Congrats to our prostate sisters, @linzhou0515 and @katcmurph, on their papers in @CD_AACR and @CR_AACR! And to @ChaitanyaParik for winning people's choice award at the 3 min. thesis competition!

This is such a cool opportunity!!

We're official! Our benefactors, Rich and Susan Rogel, cut the ribbon to launch our space at the Rogel Cancer Center. Much gratitude to the Rogels for funding our efforts to transform pancreatic cancer research and patient care 💜