Tin Tin Su
Su is a professor in the department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology. Su, who attended Woodstock School in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, credits her experiences there, in part, with helping her understand that her ideal environment is one in which “you do respect the elders or people who have had more experience or authority. But at the same time, if it doesn’t seem right, you question it.”
Throughout her career, Su and her research colleagues have sought to develop new ways of attacking cancer. Through research on how tissues and organs regenerate after being damaged by X-rays in fruit flies, they synthesized the chemical SVC112, which helps prevent cancer cells from regrowing following radiation exposure. Su and her colleagues focused on the fruit fly because this insect shares more than 70% of disease-relevant genes with humans.
SVC112 is based on the chemical bouvardin found in the firecracker bush (Bouvardia ternifolia) that grows in the Southwest U.S. and Mexico. Su and her colleagues discovered that bouvardin can prevent regeneration of tissues in fruit flies.
More recently, Su, who also is a member of the CU Cancer Center, and her colleague Antonio Jimeno, used SVC112 to target cancer stem cells in head and neck cancers. They are in the process of applying to the FDA to test SVC112 in human trials.
Su also has participated in the CU Boulder Community Perspectives Program, conducting outreach in several rural Colorado communities that led to a research collaboration with Colorado State University Pueblo to assess the effect of heavy metals on the genome in fruit fly and human cells.
“I do what I do because I love science,” Su says. “The potential to help cancer patients in Colorado and beyond makes it even better. So, to be named an AAAS fellow is really the cherry on top!”