Battleship of Experiments: The Fight Against Brain Cancer

^{Above (l–r): Wil Galang ’26, Sam Ford and Alex Brummer (Photos by Abby Albright)}

Alex Brummer, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, joined the College of Charleston after working at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center. He brought with him a research project that studies how CAR T-cells, genetically engineered immune cells taken from a patient, can successfully attach to and kill glioblastoma cells, a highly malignant brain cancer, when released back into a patient’s bloodstream.  

He and his colleagues are exploring how a therapy using extracellular vesicles (EVs) can make the CAR T-cells more effective.

While CAR T-cells have demonstrated some success in eradicating glioblastoma in patients, delivery remains a challenge. With the traditional intravenous delivery through the bloodstream, CAR T-cells struggle to pass through the blood brain barrier (BBB) because of their size. EVs, which can travel through cell membranes and the BBB, may be able to make it easier for the CAR-T cells that manage to pass through the BBB to destroy a glioblastoma. 

“The idea is that EVs make the glioblastoma cells more susceptible to the CAR T-cells,” says Brummer, “but exactly how is still something we do not fully understand.”

Understanding From All Angles

Brummer’s students have joined the mission.

“The project is perfect for students as it not only has biology, physics and medicine interfacing, but it also demonstrates the importance of a foundation in computational science,” he says, noting that one of his research assistants, recent graduate Wil Galang ’26, a biology major with a biomedical concentration and biomedical physics minor, worked on the research project for four semesters, including a summer funded through the South Carolina IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (SC INBRE) award.

“Wil took more of my classes than some of my students majoring in physics,” says Brummer. “Given his interest in the relationship between biology and physics, Wil was the perfect person to perform mathematical modeling on the therapeutic combination of CAR T-cells and EVs.” 

Galang studies the experimental data provided by collaborators of Brummer’s at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center. The data are measurements gathered from a grid of very small petri dishes organized by letters and numbers similar to the game Battleship.

Using differential equations, he analyzes these measurements to figure out the glioblastoma’s growth rate, death rate, rate of absorption of EVs into the glioblastoma cells and the rates at which CAR T-cells are killing the glioblastoma cells and growing in response to their presence. 

Another one of Brummer’s research assistants, sophomore Sam Ford, an Honors College biochemistry major and physics minor, is generating data based on the combined microscopy images of the EVs being absorbed into the glioblastoma cells. Ford’s data will inform Galang’s mathematical analysis. 

Finding Flexibility in Discipline

Galang came to Charleston from the Philippines when he was in third grade. He and his family lived with his aunt until his parents found jobs and could afford a place of their own. 

To make college more affordable, he took his core classes and obtained his associates degree at Trident Technical College before following his cousin, Ashley Galang ’15, who also majored in biology, to the College of Charleston.

With plans to become a physician’s assistant – a career that allows him the flexibility to work in different medical specialties – Galang focused on science-related courses, including four of Brummer’s physics classes, at the College.

“I like how biology, intertwined with another field like physics, gives the discipline a more multifaceted view,” says Galang. “It is also helping me understand the science behind treatments. “

Galang’s PA application requires that he have 2,000 hours of experience to be competitive. So, while conducting his research, he is also working as a patient care technician at the Medical University of South Carolina and taking an EMT course at Trident Tech to gain some out of hospital experience. Despite a very demanding schedule, Galang continues to focus on the research because he is learning how to improve data and modeling.

“The research has shown me how, when something like the blood brain barrier blocks most CAR T-cells, there are other ways to find a solution,” he says. “It is something I know will help me when working with patients in the future.” 

Processing with Well-Rounded Research

Ford, who plans to pursue a career in medicine, came to the College because of its close proximity to MUSC. Her junior year of high school she interned at a hearing loss lab at MUSC and stayed on the CofC campus.  

Ford knew she needed research experience and liked how Brummer’s cancer research incorporated biophysics. She went to his office and pitched why he should include her in the project.  

Brummer invited Ford to join the project because he was impressed by her initiative and appreciated that she wanted to explore data and image analysis in order to be a more well-rounded researcher.

With her own SC INBRE award, Ford is using software to design a way to analyze the microscopy cell images of EVs and glioblastomas. She has processed about eight images so far and is creating a pipeline using the programming language Python, which checks pixel by pixel whether an EV is inside or outside a cancer cell.  

“While we are making good progress, it can be disheartening after working hours processing a photo,” says Ford. “I have to remind myself that everything is scalable and ultimately the process will be quicker. The Python code is coming along nicely and will be crucial for what Wil is doing.”  

Once Ford has the software finalized, she will be able to process the 648 microscopy images efficiently, which will give Galang an additional crucial set of data. 

Marrying Modalities for Another View

“Basically, Wil is marrying three different modalities or sources of experimental data with mathematics,” explains Brummer. ”Right now, Wil’s data only includes the CAR T-cells and glioblastoma cells. Sam’s data will fold the EV information directly into the equations.”  

Using the trio of data, the math modeling will verify and quantify how EVs are impacting the glioblastoma cell’s susceptibility to CAR T-cells.  

“This research demonstrates the value of mathematics to biology,” says Brummer. “It doesn’t replace it; it supports and informs by providing a different way of looking at the data.” 

As Ford says, “We are doing very different things for a common good.”