Astronomer Carl Sagan once said, “Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.” Recently, I had the opportunity to converse with one such natural-born scientist, Steve Santoro. Steve graduated with his Ph.D. from the Gene Therapy and Vaccine (GTV) program in 2014. He spent six years at Penn in Dr. George Coukos’s lab, researching the interaction of chimeric antigen receptor bearing T (CAR T) cells with tumor vasculature.
Steve recalls being drawn to science from a very young age. “I remember watching National Geographic videos on biology, astronomy, and paleontology as a kid and always being amazed by them.” He pursued his love for science at the University of Colorado, where he got his dual Bachelor’s degree in Geology and Molecular, Cell, and Developmental biology. He vividly recollects what drew him to Penn and the GTV program. “Penn’s GTV program is arguably the best in the country. However, what really stood out for me was the fact that during the course of the interview weekend I felt like I had already made close friends and that was a really unique experience.” He was particularly excited by the chance to work on CAR T cells and their potential to treat cancer, which at the time was a very nascent field.
While Steve enjoyed studying and researching this cutting edge technology, he realized fairly early on that he wasn’t attracted to the academic career route. “A lot of professors may disagree with me, but if you look at facts about the competition for funding in academia, the math does not add up. After grad school, you would ideally do one or two post-docs and that’s seven to eight years of life on hardly livable wages, just to have a relatively small chance of becoming a PI. A lot of qualified, high-caliber scientists see this and are smart enough to recognize that the odds of making it are just too small. This makes it a challenge to retain talented individuals in academia who possibly want more of a balance and financial security. Having done that math for myself a little earlier, I decided to pursue something more industry based.” While wanting to continue doing science on a daily basis, he concluded that an industry post-doc was “the best of two worlds that did not completely cut off the academic route.”
Steve advises current students to form meaningful relationships with people and highlights the important role it played in his job search. “These relationships will go a long way toward shaping your future,” he adds. After graduating from Penn, Steve started working as a post-doc at Genentech with Dr. Shannon Turley, whom he met via Dr. Ira Mellman, an acquaintance of his PI. At Genentech he researched the interplay between immune cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts and other cells, collectively called the stroma, to uncover the consequences of such interactions. He gushes about the positives of industry post-docs, such as the ample funding available and having core facilities to do most of the technical experiments. He endorses Genentech by stating, “Intellectually, Genentech has some of the smartest people I’ve been around.” However, Steve does highlight some drawbacks of an industry post-doc. “In academia, you can take a good theory from one lab and then build on it in your own lab, but that is hard to do in the industry with intellectual property laws and other such barriers.”
After about a year at Genentech, Steve felt like he wanted to try something new and more challenging but decided to leave only if the right opening arose. That opportunity presented itself in the form of Cell Design Labs, a start-up company focused on harnessing synthetic biology to improve the specificity and efficiency of CAR T cells. Steve started working at Cell Design Labs in June 2016 and already feels like it’s a perfect fit for him. “I love the start-up environment where I get a flavor of everything, from basic science and experiments to management meetings. It really feels great to be doing what I love and having my hands in multiple pots.”
Steve eloquently brings to life his scientific journey and reiterates his dream to treat solid tumors using CAR T cells. He has maintained this passion from very early on in his career and will certainly be at the forefront of the field when his dream eventually becomes reality.