Dr. Horibata Determined to Speak Out on the Evolving Ways Science is Helping Patients Deal With Cancer

By Chuck Carlson

When it comes to public speaking, the irony is not lost on Dr. Sachi Horibata.

Quite simply, public speaking terrifies her. Yet in her research role, which she hopes will break new ground, she knows informing people of what she does, how she does it, and why it matters requires her to do what makes her uncomfortable.

Consider these recent examples. In July, Dr. Horibata gave a presentation at the University of the Philippines and the National Institutes of Health Philippines. She discussed the possibility of establishing a collaborative partnership to tackle cancer disparities.

In October, her lab and Dr. Tommy Vo’s lab in MSU’s Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department partnered with the Carol Greer Community Learning Center in Lansing to host a Science Day to teach children aged 7-13 STEM activities.

In November, she spoke for the Educational Survivor Retreat held by the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance to showcase recent advancements in ovarian cancer research at MSU.

“I’m still scared,” Dr. Horibata said with a laugh. “I practice, but I’m still scared, and people don’t believe it.”

Still, her work is that important, her passion is that strong, and she will continue to speak and make a difference.

Her primary research focus is precision medicine for cancer. As a member of the Precision Health Program and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Human Medicine, she studies ways to help cancer patients with new and personalized treatments.

“I just want to do something that nobody is really doing,” Dr. Horibata said. “At Cornell University (where she earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology), I volunteered at a cancer resource center for many years. Those interactions really shaped my research and I learned that sometimes you’re so interested in research you don’t think about the personal impacts on the patients.”

Her goal is to change that by focusing on the growing field of precision care that understands every cancer patient is different and requires specialized, individualized care.

“I’m focused on treatment plans for those who have no other options,” she said. “Cancer treatments are generalized treatments. For those who don’t respond, we come up with a treatment plan. We do personalized care that each person should get. The reason each person has cancer is different. Why shouldn’t the treatment?”

Dr. Horibata did her post-doctoral work at the National Cancer Institute where she was attracted to working at Michigan State because of its history in chemotherapy development.

In 1965, MSU researchers in the Department of Chemistry discovered that cisplatin was effective in battling several types of cancer, including ovarian and testicular cancer. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1978 and has been a widely used treatment ever since.

Dr. Horibata is intrigued by cisplatin’s effectiveness as well as its side effects, which can include hearing, memory, and hair loss. The management of the side effects was one of her areas of interest.

“I was interested in platinum research,” she said. “That’s why I came here. But the people are also very nice, and that’s the main reason I came here. Platinum study was the second.”

In her three years at MSU, Dr. Horibata has worked on developing new technologies that she hopes will be a “bridge” between researchers and clinicians in the study and treatment of cancer.

“We can establish a pipeline (with clinicians) and say, ‘Here’s the information, here’s the candidate treatment. My lab can do experiments and coding,’” she said.

That dovetails nicely with her other interest in cell biology.

“I feel cancer stems from when something doesn’t work out in your body,” she said. “I’m studying how cellular architecture affects cancer or any diseases and trying to find the root of all the problems.”

The key, she says, is sequencing, which is the analysis of genetic material of individual cells. This method provides a detailed look at a cell within a tissue sample. The researchers in her lab use sequencing to understand why cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapy.

“Sequencing has really changed many things,” she said.

For Dr. Horibata, this is a long way from where she started as a child who grew up splitting time between her native Philippines and Japan and whose dream originally was simply to go to college.

“I didn’t know research existed,” she said. “I thought the highest level you could reach was a bachelor’s degree. I had no idea there was a Ph.D.”

She eventually enrolled at the University of Wisconsin where she earned her undergraduate degree in biology, and when her grandmother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she focused her attention on cancer research. And from there, she set her sights on even more.

She hopes to bring new, fresh, and innovative ideas to the study of cancer, a field that has seen its share of successes and failures over the decades.

“But I’m quite optimistic,” she said.