Gita Abhiraman was 8 when her mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In addition to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, her mother received infusions of a then-new drug called rituximab. Within a few months, she was fully recovered.
At the time, the treatment seemed miraculous. But as Abhiraman entered high school and delved deeper into science, she realized that it had roots in human innovation. Rituximab, a form of immunotherapy developed at Stanford Medicine, is a monoclonal antibody that fights cancer by destroying certain immune cells.
“I felt so grateful that the discovery had been made before my mom’s diagnosis,” Abhiraman said. “I felt like if I could do something like that, even if the impact was incremental, that would be so meaningful to other people’s lives.”
As Abhiraman prepares to collect her MD/PhD on June 14, she is well on her way. Recently, she was part of a team that patented a design for a new class of molecules that could eventually lead to treatments for a host of cancers and autoimmune diseases. “Immunotherapy was my motivation to do medicine, and it was an honor to work on something that could be developed into a treatment for patients,” she said.
Combining research and medicine
A passion for science runs in Abhiraman’s family. Her mother, who was born in China, and her father, who is from India, immigrated to the United States as graduate students in the sciences.
I felt so grateful that the discovery had been made before my mom’s diagnosis. I felt like if I could do something like that, even if the impact was incremental, that would be so meaningful to other people’s lives."
Abhiraman’s public school teachers in New Canaan, Connecticut, encouraged her interest in the topic. In high school, she took a class in which students discussed scientific research papers then spent the summer at a research lab. Abhiraman was placed in a microbiology and immunology lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York under a doctor named Kami Kim, MD, who became a mentor. Kim suggested that Abhiraman pursue a medical degree and a PhD. “It was the first time I heard there was a dual degree that allowed you to practice medicine and do research,” she recalled.
With that goal in mind, Abhiraman studied biophysics at Harvard University. “I was drawn to the fact that it combined basic principles of physics with applications to human health and disease,” she said.
For two years in college, Abhiraman was a research assistant in a lab focused on immunology and virology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. For her thesis, she tried to engineer a model that used fluorescent dye to track communication between immune cells and tumors in mice. While the experiment failed, it provided a valuable lesson. “Most scientific ideas you have may not work, but the point is not to have a perfect outcome,” Abhiraman said. “The point is to get closer to a truth or treatment.”
The summer after her sophomore year, Abhiraman interned in clinics in South Africa, treating patients with HIV and tuberculosis. “It was an eye-opening exposure to a different health care system,” she said. “I realized that a lot of gaps in care were logistical,” such as difficulties obtaining transportation or childcare to attend far-away appointments.
For the following three years, Abhiraman was vice president of operations for Sawubona Health, a nonprofit founded by classmates who completed the same internship. The organization helps patients access care through optional text reminders about appointments and prescription refills. Abhiraman had considered narrowing her focus to research, but her experience in South Africa cemented her desire to also become a medical doctor. “I realized that clinical medicine is such a precious gift,” she said.
Outside of her health care pursuits, Abhiraman also directed Harvard’s First-Year Musical and produced an original musical revue called SHE, which showcased the talents of women performers on campus. Abhiraman enjoyed putting on plays with neighbors and friends as a child and briefly considered becoming a playwright or documentary filmmaker before medicine became her true calling. “The arts do heal people, but I thought medicine and research were better suited to my skills and a service to others,” she said.
Discoveries with real-world impact
Abhiraman never forgot that her mother’s life-saving treatment was invented at Stanford Medicine, and that was one reason she decided to earn her MD/PhD here. She appreciated the school’s focus on research and discovery as well as translating innovations into real-world applications. “There were a lot of opportunities to think outside the box,” she said. “It was important to me that the things I was working on were useful … [and] didn’t end at some prestigious journal or in the laps of academics.”
It was important to me that the things I was working on were useful … [and] didn’t end at some prestigious journal or in the laps of academics."
At Stanford, Abhiraman expanded her work in immunology, a field that was seeing exciting advances in immunotherapies. “The immune system fascinated and mystified me, and I felt it was very targetable for therapeutic reasons,” she said.
Working in the lab of professor Christopher Garcia, Ph.D., Abhiraman concentrated on researching the ways in which immune cells communicate, focusing on structural biology and protein engineering. She said her most rewarding project involved, with assistance from collaborators, designing molecules that can block a specific immune signal and convert it into a different signal. “It’s like a power adapter,” Abhiraman said.
For example, they created molecules that can block production of the cytokines IL-17 or IL-23, proteins made by immune cells that contribute to autoimmune diseases including psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, while converting them into a molecule that suppresses inflammation. The innovation, which Abhiraman and her team patented, has the potential to be translated into off-the-shelf treatments. “I’m excited about this idea, because I think it shows a potential new approach for immune engineering in cancer and autoimmune disease,” she said. “Hopefully, it can lead to a drug that can be delivered in a simple way, such as infusions or injections, rather than requiring transfusions of modified blood cells.”
Another project involved mapping the structure of a cytokine called IL-21, which plays a key role in immune memory. “Knowing where every atom is is important for drug development and for understanding how the biology functions,” Abhiraman said.
A Hertz Fellowship, which provides five years of funding to pursue innovative research with the potential to solve urgent global problems, supported Abhiraman’s research. “The fellowship gave me the freedom to pursue riskier ideas. … I feel extremely grateful for that opportunity,” she said.
In late June, Abhiraman starts a residency in internal medicine at Stanford Medicine, where she will continue her research in the Translational Investigator Program. She plans to specialize in rheumatology with the aim of advancing understanding and treatment of autoimmune diseases. Her commitment to the specialty deepened recently as a close family friend struggled for a year to find answers for her symptoms before finally being diagnosed with an immune disorder.
Autoimmune disease mostly affects women, and it was the Dark Ages for a long time. We’re starting to shed new light on the mechanisms of disease and better treatments, and I’m really excited to be focusing on this area.”
More broadly, Abhiraman observed that the field remains ripe for new discoveries. “Autoimmune disease mostly affects women, and it was the Dark Ages for a long time,” she said. “We’re starting to shed new light on the mechanisms of disease and better treatments, and I’m really excited to be focusing on this area.”
She wants to continue combining research with clinical care by pursuing academic medicine, and to eventually join the faculty of a medical school and lead her own lab.
Throughout medical school, Abhiraman provided counseling on medical school applications for students from nontraditional backgrounds through Stanford Medicine-MSTP BOOST and the non-profit Project SHORT, and mentored students in the lab. She plans to continue supporting the next generation of doctors and researcher while also paving the way for other women and people of color.
“It’s important for leaders in medicine and research to be from all backgrounds, and we need to make sure that treatments and cures being developed can be accessed by the diverse populations affected by these diseases,” she said.
