Let's talk Science: Ishara Interviews Cancer Immunotherapy Pioneer Dr. Brian Czerniecki

10 year old Junior journalist and podcast host Ishara had the incredible honor of interviewing cancer immunotherapy pioneer Dr. Brian Czerniecki following his keynote presentation at the Pennies In Action Foundation Gala hosted by Olympic coach Uschi Keszler. 

Pennies In Action is dedicated to supporting Dr. Czerniecki's groundbreaking cancer research while helping patients access innovative “Right to Try” treatment options that may otherwise be financially out of reach. Through advocacy, fundraising, and education, the foundation continues to bring hope to patients and families facing some of the most difficult cancer diagnoses.

Dr. Czerniecki, a nationally recognized researcher at Moffitt Cancer Center, is helping advance the future of cancer immunotherapy through his groundbreaking work in dendritic cell (DC1) therapy, an innovative approach designed to train the body’s immune system to recognize and fight cancer.

The evening became even more meaningful as Ishara was officially installed as the first Madam President of Kids in Action a powerful reminder that young voices can lead, inspire, and create meaningful impact.

You can watch this interview on Ishara's YouTube Channel 

Through Ishara’s Reading Podcast, STEM advocacy, and competitive figure skating, Ishara continues to inspire curiosity, confidence, and a lifelong love of learning.


#IsharasReadingPodcast #CancerImmunotherapy #CancerResearch #STEM #DC1 #PodcastHost #JuniorJournalist #YoungLeaders #PenniesInAction #KidsInAction #WomenInScience #YouthInSTEM

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hi, Lindsay Shar here from Sharon Podcast with Dr. Ryan Certain. We have solved cancer. You know how there's always chemotherapy and all the other options? We think a cure that comes from what this cure isn't just like it does something, it changes the cancer itself. Imagine it this way. There's healthy cell, then there's cancer cell, then there's a bunch of stuff say just he turns back the clock on it based on recent data. Tell me about what's your view on this, realizing when you first realize what happens, what was your reaction? Realizing that's big words, and it's really accurate.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Well, when I saw the first patients with stage four, and their tumors were melted away on the PET scans, I was like, holy cow, I can't believe that.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Okay, the next spot after that, it's just a okay, it works. Now what's next?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

So then we we said we'll do it again to a couple more people and see if it keeps doing that, and it did. So then we decided, well, maybe we should make a clinical trial for women that have stage four breast cancer that we can treat to make this an approved therapy for them, all based on four or five patients that got these shots in their tumor.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Okay, so here's what 45-year-old woman had several tumors based on the talk that you just gave, and even one of the ones you didn't even need to treat, it just went away. Next tattoo just go gone. It was like it was never bare, even in the bone marrow, it was gone too. Because did you know that cancer actually hides in some parts of the bone marrow? And that's one of the reasons why cancer can't refer. And even in the bone marrow, it was just invisible. God, never bear.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Pretty amazing. I would have never guessed that would happen, but by injecting in the tumor in the breast, that you would get rid of occult cancer cells hanging out somewhere else. But but we have, and we're trying to figure out why. But we do we do see the immune response that we generate here goes everywhere in the body, and so we could see the immune cells in the bone marrow too.

unknown 2:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

If you got to talk to young PhD you, just started doing college, just doing everything, just choosing a field, what would be his reaction if you just got to go back into the past and just tell him you solved cancer? What would be his reaction?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

What would a Ph a graduate student's reaction be?

SPEAKER_01 3:00

What would a graduate student's reaction be?

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Uh most of them probably wouldn't believe it. If you told it order the science would still well, eventually they if they're rounded enough, they start to believe it because they start to see it. If they start to see it over and over, doubting Thomas goes away.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

It's like what Thomas did in the one story of part of the Bible. He said, I will not believe I saw Jesus until I actually see him and feeling for himself. The doubt just goes away, but you actually see it.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

That's the way a lot of doctors are. They don't believe it unless they see it. So we're trying to show them, let them see it for themselves. And now some of them believe it.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Tell me, what's your favorite cell in all your research? Like, if you can pick one that you wish you could actually have a chat with, maybe just an afternoon coffee, which one would it be?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Um, the non-conventional natural killer T cell.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Why that one?

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Because I want to find out what their job really is.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Uh or by just to cause cells to go, and that would work for it. Go boom.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

No, but they're kind of a funny cell. We don't know exactly what they do. They might regulate other immune cells, they might help get rid of cancer. They and they do things quickly and then they disappear.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

It just goes, okay, they're bare then blink, bare gone.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

So I want to ask a natural killer T cell what they're doing to the dendritic cells to make them work better.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Thank you for coming on to my podcast and giving everybody here a new perspective on how your research works and well why it works.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Well, it was a pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Shars Reading Podcast. Don't forget to like, review, and smash that subscribe button. Bye!