Dr. Jillian Wise turns passion into progress with cancer research

For Dr. Jillian Wise, assistant professor of biology and biomedical sciences, the path to cancer research and computational biology was rooted deeply in personal experience. As a child, she witnessed firsthand the profound effects of cancer through the loss of a beloved neighbor and the illness of a close childhood friend. These early moments planted a powerful desire to help others – one that would carry her through both an extraordinary academic and personal journey.

Originally aiming to become a cancer oncologist, Wise pursued genetics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she also fell in love with global exploration through research projects abroad in London and Namibia. While interning in oncology settings, she realized her passion didn’t lie at the patient's bedside but behind the scenes, contributing to the creation of new cures through research. This revelation led her to MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, where she earned her Ph.D.

Her work then took her to Norway, where she contributed to groundbreaking lymphoma studies and taught herself the coding language “R” to better analyze massive genomic datasets. There, Wise set out to determine whether there are DNA changes that confer resistance to the standard care therapies in B-cell lymphomas to provide personalized medicine options for those with the worst prognoses. To deepen her computational expertise, Wise completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, developing cutting-edge skills to understand genetic mutations and therapy resistance.

When her son was diagnosed with a rare form of congenital muscular dystrophy, Wise’s professional and personal worlds collided.

Leaning on her skill set, she became scientific director of the COL6 Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing research for her son's condition. Today, a mouse model replicating her son's exact genetic mutation is being used to test potential therapies – a direct result of Wise’s relentless advocacy and scientific drive.

At Salve Regina University, Wise has found the ideal environment to weave together her passions for research, teaching and compassionate care.

"Here, I get to teach genetics courses in cancer immunology and bioinformatics, which is a combination of my son and cancer," shared Wise. "This hope for making a larger impact on student education through my research and experience has made all the difference in my ability to host my program. Not all small institutes provide support for research, and I hope to see this develop even further at Salve."

Her current research on campus is focused on improving cancer patient care by developing computational tools that analyze cancer cells from blood samples, eliminating the need for invasive surgeries. Partnering with Mass General’s pioneering microfluidics lab and utilizing an innovative technique called single-cell RNA sequencing to understand chemotherapy resistance and cancer relapse, she and her undergraduate students are working to advance personalized medicine for pediatric brain cancers – a historically underserved area in clinical research.

“With research moving toward mass data accumulation, AI and machine learning, teaching these skills early is necessary with science moving forward and a key component of setting up these students to really change lives,” Wise said.

Beyond the lab, Wise is energized by her students. “They come in with this unmatched enthusiasm for science. They're all super excited, and they all want to learn,” she said. Her students are already making their mark, presenting research at conferences and collaborating with hospital researchers through Salve’s supportive academic programs.

Wise feels strongly that the University’s mercy mission, centered on compassion, justice and service, perfectly complements her work. “Salve’s mission is about taking care of others, and that is what my lab is all about – alleviating that unnecessary burden of health care versus other unjust societal issues.”