Episode 44
Her Daughter’s Brain Tumor Turned Her Into a Biotech Founder | Tracy Ryan
A mother’s search for answers to her daughter’s relentless brain tumor led her into natural killer cell biology, cancer immunotherapy, and biotech entrepreneurship.
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Tracy Ryan, co-founder of NKore BioTherapeutics and former chief communications officer, joins Gregory Austin and Dr. Chad Briscoe to explain how her daughter Sophie’s pediatric brain tumor transformed her from a parent searching for options into a cancer advocate, research fundraiser, and biotechnology founder.
The conversation examines the scientific reasoning that moved Tracy from medical cannabis advocacy toward NK-cell immunotherapy. She describes an immune-system finding involving Sophie’s natural killer cells, the work of the late UCLA scientist Dr. Anahid Jewett, and the development of an experimental allogeneic NK-cell platform designed to enhance immune activity without genetic engineering.
The episode also explores the practical realities of translating an early scientific hypothesis into a therapeutic program, including donor selection, cell persistence, manufacturing, treatment outside the United States, regulatory requirements, clinical evidence, and the difficulty of raising capital for an emerging cell-therapy company.
At the center of the discussion is a difficult question: how do scientists, founders, regulators, and families preserve urgency when patients need better options, while still requiring the controlled evidence needed to determine whether a therapy is safe and effective?
What you will learn:
• How Sophie’s pediatric brain tumor changed the direction of Tracy Ryan’s life
• Why natural killer cells are important in immune surveillance and cancer biology
• What differentiates allogeneic NK-cell approaches from CAR-T and CAR-NK therapies
• How NKore’s experimental platform was designed to activate donor-derived NK cells
• Why persistence, donor biology, manufacturing, and lymphodepletion matter in cell therapy
• Why early human observations must remain distinct from controlled clinical-trial evidence
• How regulatory pathways and capital constraints shape whether promising science reaches patients
• What parents facing pediatric cancer need from the scientific and medical community
About Tracy Ryan:
Tracy Ryan is a pediatric cancer advocate, entrepreneur, public speaker, and biotechnology co-founder. She formerly served as chief communications officer of NKore BioTherapeutics.
Her daughter Sophie was diagnosed with a brain tumor during infancy, leading Tracy and her family into more than a decade of advocacy, research support, fundraising, and therapeutic exploration. Tracy and her husband also established Saving Sophie to support pediatric cancer research and help families pursue care. Their family’s experience with medical cannabis was featured in the documentary Weed the People.
Connect with Tracy Ryan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyryan23/
Connect with Gregory Austin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryaustin1/
Connect with Dr. Chad Briscoe:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadbriscoe/
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Learn more about NKore BioTherapeutics:
Support Saving Sophie:
This episode is brought to you by founding sponsor Lucentra. Lucentra provides information technology consulting for life science and healthcare organizations, helping teams modernize infrastructure, strengthen security, and build scalable technology environments that support scientific innovation.
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Medical and scientific disclaimer:
This conversation is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment guidance. The therapies and outcomes discussed may be investigational, preliminary, or based on individual experience. Early observations do not establish safety or efficacy. Patients and caregivers should consult qualified healthcare professionals before making medical decisions.
#CancerImmunotherapy #NKCells #PediatricCancer
