Finding a cure for cancer was not always the goal for Dr. Paul Castillo.
But that changed when he became a pediatric oncologist at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, focused on the recovery of the immune system after conducting bone marrow transplants at Texas Children’s Hospital at Baylor College of Medicine.
To find a cure for childhood cancer, Castillo received a two-year, $200,000 grant from the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Foundation. The money will be used to find a new method of treatment for leukemia and lymphoma that would reduce the damage on a patient’s immune system, Castillo said.
“I am extremely happy to have received this grant and very excited to help,” Castillo said.
In Castillo’s previous research, patients with leukemia would get infected with a lethal fungus after bone marrow treatments because the cancer treatments would wipe out the T-cells, he said.
While looking for a solution, Castillo came across a group of doctors studying cellular therapy on T-cells, a type of white blood cell that defends the body against foreign substances, and realized he could apply that data to fight leukemia.
“I never thought I would be so passionate about this type of research,” Castillo said. “It clicked after a couple months of being in a lab with my great mentors. Everything was in the right place at the right time for me.”
Castillo said he would use the grant to apply cellular therapy to train T-cells in the body to target only cancerous cells, leaving patients with a much higher chance of survival.
The funds will go toward buying the equipment and infrastructure needed to conduct the T-cell experiments on mice, Castillo said.
Isabella Ramirez, a 21-year-old University of South Florida pre-nursing junior, was diagnosed with stage 3 lymphoma when she was 17. She became a patient of Castillo’s after she relapsed and needed a bone marrow transplant.
“I feel proud to have been one of his first bone marrow transplant patients here at Shands Hospital,” Ramirez said.
While going through her treatment, Ramirez said Castillo made her feel like his only patient by always checking in on her and cheering her up.
“It is very comforting to me knowing that he is getting this grant, so his research can grow and get closer to finding better treatments, so future kids won’t have to go through what I did,” Ramirez said.
UF Shands Hospital staff and pediatric cancer survivors join Dr. Paul Castillo at the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Handprint Ceremony where he received a $200,000 grant on Sept. 18.
