National Hispanic Heritage Month: Yadira Soto-Feliciano

In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we honor the lives and work of Hispanic scientists who have made significant contributions to our understanding of health and disease. Their dedication and determination serve as an inspiration to aspiring young scientists.

In this post, we talk with Dr. Yadira Soto-Feliciano, Assistant Professor of Biology at MIT.

Dr. Soto-Feliciano has devoted her career to the study of the epigenetics of cancer. Her lab, located at the Koch Institute for Cancer Research at MIT, studies how chromatin and epigenetic regulators modify gene expression and how alterations to this process contribute to disease. Dr. Soto-Feliciano completed her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez. She then moved to the United States, where she completed her doctoral studies at MIT and honed her expertise in chromatin biology as a postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. David Allis. Taking great pride in her roots, Dr. Soto-Feliciano continues to give back to underserved students like she once was, including those of Hispanic heritage, through various mentoring programs and activities.

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...it’s bringing something different to the table—particularly in science which has historically been very homogeneous. It’s really important to bring people with accents, people that look different, people with different experiences, because that's where innovation will happen.

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Dr. Yadira Soto-Feliciano

Please introduce yourself and your research.

My name is Yadira Soto-Feliciano and I am currently an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at MIT. My lab is located at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, which is the NCI-designated cancer center within the biology and biomedical sciences here at MIT. My lab is really interested in understanding how gene expression programs become dysregulated in the context of human diseases. We study chromatin and how it is regulated at the most fundamental level, how those molecular processes are altered in human diseases, and how we can use the molecular information to design the next generation of cancer treatments.

Was there a specific question or challenge you set out to address when you started your lab?

One very intentional action I took as a postdoctoral fellow was to try to define what my research program would look like in the next 5-10 years as an independent researcher, and I wanted to identify spaces within chromatin biology and epigenetics that weren't as crowded or as well understood as others. I encountered a subclass of chromatin and epigenetic regulators that we now call chromatin adaptors or scaffolding factors, which facilitate the assembly of multiprotein complexes on chromatin for specific functions for particular cell types. They were becoming more and more relevant in the context of human disease, but we didn't have a clear molecular understanding of them.

So now my lab studies these chromatin adaptors/scaffolding factors. They can promote or repress gene expression, so we often call them co-activating or co-repressing factors. Because of their very context-specific function in development and disease, we need novel, innovative ways of thinking about their biology to address their central role in gene regulation—which is what we are really interested in exploring.

How do you think this work will translate to an industry level?

The easiest way of thinking about this is in the context of small molecules and inhibitors development. While still in its infancy, we’re beginning to realize that leveraging chromatin adaptor factors could be a very effective way of disrupting oncogenic complexes in the context of cancer. By dissecting all of the different aspects of the molecular biology around chromatin adaptor factors, I think we may gain a new horizon for developing new drugs and new inhibitors that will disrupt chromatin engagement and chromatin factor recruitment, potentially disrupting these complexes that are so important for cancer cells.

How do you explain your research and its impact to the public?

I like to use the analogy of a tree. Chromatin adaptors/scaffolding factors are the roots, the trunk is represented by adaptor protein interacting partners that then assemble the rest of the tree. The fruit—the consumable part—may be represented by enzymes that affect gene expression. If you think about this very ordered “tree” and how it grows over time, breaking down the different components, and understanding them will give us new “molecular handles” to identify novel ways to approach epigenetic drugs. And this is important because current epigenetic drugs are mostly inhibitors that disrupt the enzymatic functions of chromatin adaptor complexes—the fruit—and they haven’t been too successful in the clinic yet. So, understanding the roots will hopefully allow us to get a more holistic understanding of gene regulation in a normal context, how that can become abnormal, and how we can use that information to intercept abnormal processes.

Did you have a hobby or interest when you were younger that guided you to where you are right now?

I was a fairly serious dancer from age 6 all the way to 18 and I loved it—it was my second life, other than school. But in college I started doing undergraduate research and fell in love with it. I realized dance wasn’t compatible with doing research and having a full workload at school, and science was where I felt more passionate, and I could see myself doing that for the rest of my life. But even though I don’t dance anymore, the discipline and commitment it required probably translated and allowed me to be more engaged and effective in my research.

What is the most rewarding part of your profession?

At this stage, the single thing that I find the most fulfilling is watching my students mature. When I was establishing my lab, my first students only had a year to become “senior” because the second round of students came in and I feel that they just did it so seamlessly and graciously. It feels like a proud mama moment, especially because they’ve been able to get to a point that took me a considerable amount of time to get to. That’s really fulfilling for me because I hope it's a reflection of the environment that I'm fostering for them—an environment that gets reflected every day in the way that my students treat the newcomers. Going back to the tree analogy, that’s one of the first fruits of my tree that I can see and I’m very happy about that.

Did you have people who mentored you and supported you? How do you think that support helped you get to where you are today?

I'm one of the lucky ones—I had outstanding mentors at every single stage of my career, from undergrad to postdoc, and they really changed my life. My mentor as a research technician treated me like a grad student and gave me the freedom to drive the project I was working on, which was the final confirmation that this was what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. But the freedom I was given during my PhD allowed me to jump above the independence fence and I think that’s when I truly became an independent scientist. But my postdoc mentor, David Allis, was the absolute best mentor ever. He was a very senior figure in our field, and he was at the top of his game on the way to get the Nobel Prize and it didn't matter—his mentees were the priority, and he taught us that it doesn't matter how prominent and how famous or all the accolades that you have. Your mentees are the legacy of your career.

Is there a Hispanic scientist who has inspired you or supported you in your work?

Yes. Although not directly in my field, my undergrad research advisor—Professor Samuel Hernandez at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez—made probably the greatest impact on me moving forward. He was the catalyst of my career, and he gave me that initial push that gave me the momentum that got me to this place. And to this day, I feel that inertia keeps me going. That type of an impact at an early stage is very, very powerful.

How do you support Hispanic students?

I have maintained a very close relationship with my undergrad institution back in Puerto Rico. It has a really wonderful program that brings speakers from other institutions, particularly those that have a tie with the University of Puerto Rico. I participate in many of these panels throughout the semester, speaking to students about what research looks like and some things they can be doing proactively to increase their chances of getting into good PhD programs.

MIT Biology also has a very outstanding outreach program that recruits students from particularly underserved institutions in the United States—including Puerto Rico—into the summer research program that is run through MSRP Biology. This year my lab is hosting our second student through this program. It has been a tremendous experience so far, particularly because both students I’ve brought into my lab are from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez.

During National Hispanic Heritage Month, are there particularly aspects of your heritage that you enjoy celebrating the most? Are there any family recipes, holidays, or traditions that you're excited to pass down?

Christmas is a big holiday in the United States, but Christmas in Puerto Rico is a bit different. We have a hybrid version with Santa Claus and decorations but also a whole additional Hispanic version, which I'm trying to inject into Christmas celebrations within my group. I started doing that this past holiday and they were really excited about it because it's very joyful with lots of very cool music in Spanish and very particular dishes. Desserts are a major thing during Christmas. Most of them are coconut based, but I make a flan that in English is called Vanilla custard. Every single person who tries it thinks it is amazing, so the flan is a big staple during our celebrations. We even have people from other labs who don’t identify as Hispanic come and ask about what we’re doing because they’re curious about it, and then you can talk with them about the history and origins of it.

What is something most people are not aware of about your heritage that you would like them to know?

One potential misconception that people might have is that Hispanics are very homogeneous but within Hispanic heritage, there's a ton of heterogeneity in terms of traditions, the way that we speak, our slang, and even how we look. There are a lot of current things that will very easily allow you to distinguish between someone from Puerto Rico versus someone from Brazil or Venezuela that can be lost a little bit in translation. I think it's important for the general public and non-Hispanic individuals to embrace that within a single ethnic group there is already a lot of diversity.

Is there anything else that you would like to share about Hispanic Heritage month or your heritage as a STEM researcher?

One thing that I have evolved to appreciate and embrace more is my accent. In Puerto Rico we learn English, but we don’t actually speak it. Initially I was very self-conscious about my accent, but over time I realized that’s part of my identity. This is who I am, and I think it’s really important for younger generations that think about these things to know it doesn’t matter. It’s part of who you are, and it makes you a very special individual because it’s bringing something different to the table—particularly in science which has historically been very homogeneous. It’s really important to bring people with accents, people that look different, people with different experiences, because that's where innovation will happen.