Kelsey Murphy, V27, Analyzes Biomarkers in RNA for Early Signs of Canine Osteosarcoma in Summer Research Program
This month, the 35th Annual Veterinary Research Day featured a vast cross-section of research happening at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Much of that work took place over the summer by students in the Student Summer Research Training Program, including Kelsey Murphy V27 (she/her), who presented a poster of her research on detecting canine osteosarcoma at Veterinary Research Day.
Kelsey conducted her summer research under the mentorship of Dr. Heather Gardner (she/her), assistant professor in the Departments of Clinical Sciences and Comparative Pathobiology at Cummings School. Dr. Gardner typically takes on one to two veterinary students every summer in her lab. Her research primarily focuses on canine osteosarcoma, the most common primary bone cancer in dogs. Her lab also conducts collaborative research in other cancers, including hemangiosarcoma and lymphoma.
“The Summer Research Program allows students to gain hands-on experience in a variety of research techniques, understand how the work is done, and ways that it can be applied to address a challenge in the biomedical field,” says Dr. Gardner. “Students are focused on one piece of a research question for the summer, facilitating good discussions and collaborative teamwork with other students and researchers.”
Kelsey Murphy contacted Dr. Gardner about the Summer Research Program last winter. Her love of research started in a chemistry lab. Originally from Bedford, New Hampshire, Kelsey majored in chemistry at St. Lawrence University. As an undergraduate, she researched the DNA binding dynamics of anti-cancer drugs. She presented a poster of her work at the St. Lawrence Festival of Sciences and the American Chemical Society Annual Meeting.
After graduating, Kelsey joined the Peace Corps in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, working at a primary school. She became involved with the Vincentian Society for the Prevention Cruelty to Animals (VSPCA), working with veterinarians to raise awareness of animal health and helping run spay/neuter clinics in remote communities. Combining her interests in veterinary medicine and research, Kelsey earned her Ph.D. in biomedical and veterinary sciences, focusing on translational oncology at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. For her doctorate, she researched energy-based ablation therapeutics for treating brain tumors. She started up at Cummings School last fall for her D.V.M.
“I feel I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” says Kelsey. “There are so many opportunities here. All the faculty and everyone in the hospitals are so welcoming of students. You can reach out if you’re interested in something, the professors are excited about giving students that opportunity. It’s a great place to explore and find what you like in veterinary medicine.”
Together with Dr. Gardner, she came up with the focus of her summer research project: “Leveraging Circulating Transcriptional Markers to Identify Early Signatures of Treatment Failure in Osteosarcoma.” Her research involved analyzing circulating cell-free RNA in plasma to identify biomarkers that correlate with early signs of metastasis in dogs with osteosarcoma. She analyzed the lab’s banked plasma samples to identify changes in cell-free RNA associated with different patient outcomes.
“Canine osteosarcoma almost always metastasizes despite standard treatments,” says Kelsey. “By the time it’s discovered that it’s metastasized, the cancer is usually resistant to all therapies. We’re identifying biomarkers in cell-free RNA circulating in plasma to detect early treatment failure for canine osteosarcoma before clinical disease progression and metastasis.”
Checking in mid-summer, Kelsey describes her typical day in the lab: she starts by pulling plasma samples from the clinical trials, isolating the cell-free RNA, running quality control, conducting transcriptional analysis, then data analysis, and reviewing the data with Dr. Gardner.
“Dr. Gardner is very involved and supportive of the project and training,” says Kelsey. “It’s definitely a very unique opportunity, and I’m lucky to work under someone who is so accomplished in what she does and so impressive in the way she does it. Working with any clinician here at Tufts is a great experience. I soak in as much as I can from my mentors here while I have their time.”
By August, Kelsey had switched her approach in investigating cell-free RNA for biomarkers from using a NanoString platform to profile a set of several hundred genes to expanding the scope of the genes she analyzed using an RNA sequencing approach.
The results were different from what she anticipated. She did not find enough differentiation to correlate with the onset of metastasis but did see unexpected results in terms of patients’ responses.
“We were initially looking for a biomarker that correlates to the onset of metastasis but instead found biomarkers that correlate with patient response and survival. That may allow us to predict treatment outcomes in dogs. This was not seen in previous data,” she explains. “There’s not a lot of literature on how to isolate cell-free RNA to get a usable yield or how to characterize gene expression once isolated. We tried different methods for analyzing gene expression and found that RNA sequencing was the way to go.”
“Kelsey’s project focused on cell-free RNA in circulation. It’s a very challenging sample to work with and analyze because it’s present in the blood in such small amounts and a bit degraded once it gets into circulation,” says Dr. Gardner. “She helped evaluate different techniques for isolation and the best way to analyze data. She did a great job, so now we have a workflow at the end of the summer. The project is in a great place going forward to integrate into the rest of the efforts in the lab.”
In early August, Kelsey traveled with the other Summer Research Program students to the National Veterinary Scholars Symposium (NVSS) in St. Paul, Minnesota, to present the poster she created of her work. She enjoyed the process of honing her presentation to find the best way to communicate her research. She appreciated the opportunity to talk with other veterinary students, faculty members, and professionals at NVSS and hear their impressions of her work.
“The Summer Research Program is great at facilitating opportunities for us to network and explore possible career paths as veterinarians through the seminars, the conference, and research day, planting opportunities for us throughout the program,” says Kelsey. “They give us a well-rounded taste of what it could be like as a vet who does research; it’s a great opportunity to see what’s out there.”
Now that the Summer Research Program has wrapped up, Kelsey hopes to continue her work in Dr. Gardner’s lab when time allows between classes.
“I’m surprised and proud of how much we were able to get done this summer. Dr. Gardner has bridged the gap between my previous experience in translational oncology and new areas of that field. I learned so much from her,” says Kelsey.
As rewarding as the program has been for Kelsey, Dr. Gardner always looks forward to bringing the Summer Research Program students into her lab each summer. “I’ve really enjoyed mentoring students in a one-on-one research setting. What makes science fun is working with other people. It’s nice to see students involved in research and how it can be used to improve outcomes for their future patients.”