Marina Walther-Antonio, Ph.D., had no idea that her quest to find extraterrestrial life would lead her to Mayo Clinic.
Born and raised in Portugal, Dr. Walther-Antonio studied biology at a local university, Universidade de Aveiro. As part of the curriculum, she was required to complete one year of research outside of the institution. Dr. Walther-Antonio applied for and was accepted to the NASA Astrobiology Institute for a research internship.
“It was something I always wanted to do: look for aliens,” says Dr. Walther-Antonio, sharing that her passion to explore the universe stemmed from her upbringing.
“My dad raised me to be an independent thinker, so he never answered any of my questions as a child. He would always tell me, ‘I can’t give you the answer, but I can help you find it.’ When I was in middle school, I asked if there was life beyond our planet, and he said that no one knew the answer. I was stunned. It seemed like the most important question, so I started trying to learn everything I could about it.”
Dr. Walther-Antonio carried this passion for learning about extraterrestrial life throughout her education, from her NASA internship to her M.S. in microbiology at Indiana University to her Ph.D. in environmental sciences at Washington State University.
During her Ph.D. training, Dr. Walther-Antonio analyzed microbialites ─ microbial structures that can be several feet high and are found at the bottom of certain freshwater lakes. As she researched the pathways of these structures, she noticed an unexpected connection.
“I saw that there were a lot of pathways of communication between these types of cells. When I began researching what kinds of pathways these were, I started hitting a lot of cancer literature,” Dr. Walther-Antonio explains. “This was very surprising, but then I thought, ‘Well, if we have microbes in our body, it could impact treatment because they utilize these same pathways.’”
The timing was fortuitous. Mayo Clinic had recently created a Microbiome Program within the Center for Individualized Medicine. The Microbiome Program studies how the naturally occurring microbial populations in each person’s body help maintain health and how disrupting these microbes can lead to health problems. Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., the current president and CEO of Mayo Clinic, was leading the effort at the time as the Carlson and Nelson Endowed Executive Director for the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine.
“There are very few people who cross the astrobiology and medical fields, so it’s a really interesting place to be,” says Dr. Walther-Antonio, who joined the Microbiome Program as a research fellow in 2012. “Now I’m looking for aliens, or microbes, in the human body. And sure enough, we have them. They’re very different than what we might find on other planets, but nevertheless they are there, and they have an impact on our health.”
Dr. Walther-Antonio’s current research focuses on the role of the microbiome in cancer and reproductive health, particularly endometrial and ovarian cancers. World Cancer Research Fund International ranks endometrial and ovarian cancers among the top 10 most prevalent cancers in women worldwide, yet there are still no standard screenings for early detection.
Dr. Walther-Antonio and her team are on a mission to change that. By exploring the microbiome, they have uncovered specific microbial signatures that are linked to endometrial and ovarian cancers. They are using these findings to develop an innovative at-home swab test for women to help with early detection, which is critical to improving survival outcomes.
Now I’m looking for aliens, or microbes, in the human body. And sure enough, we have them. They’re very different than what we might find on other planets, but nevertheless they are there, and they have an impact on our health.
— Marina Walther-Antonio, Ph.D.
Affordable, easy-to-use home tests will be helpful for all women, and particularly for at-risk populations. Thanks to generous benefactor funding, Dr. Walther-Antonio and her team are developing a low-cost human papillomavirus (HPV) test. Testing for and treating HPV can reduce the risk of cervical cancer. The goal is to make tests easily accessible for women in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where cervical cancer rates are extremely high.
In New Zealand, Dr. Walther-Antonio’s team is collaborating with the Waitematā District Health Board officials to help the Pacific Islander and Māori populations, who have some of the highest incidences of endometrial cancer globally. In the U.S., Dr. Walther-Antonio is working to overcome health disparities with a long-term initiative designed to engage Black women, a population that experiences higher mortality and morbidity rates from endometrial cancer despite a similar incidence rate.
“The ideas we have and the technology we develop are so new that it’s not always well understood by traditional funding mechanisms,” she says. “The reason I’m here is because of benefactor generosity. They are the ones who allow us to dream big and transform medicine.”
As Dr. Walther-Antonio makes significant strides in women’s health worldwide, she says she also feels great satisfaction in her role as director of the Leadership in Ph.D. Program, associate director of the Clinical and Translational Ph.D. Program, and associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
“Mentoring Ph.D. students is the most rewarding part of my job,” she says. “I have come to realize that I can’t fix everything for everyone right now, but I can make it a little better. I can give the next generation the tools and skills they need and the knowledge that they are agents of change.”
She encourages her mentees to spend time in the operating room or walking the halls where patients are, so they never lose sight of their purpose.
“It’s really important to see the people you’re impacting on a daily basis,” she says. “It helps keep you motivated and reminds you that there are real lives on the other end that are dependent on our efforts. That’s what keeps me going.”
It’s been 20 years since Dr. Walther-Antonio first arrived in the United States to search for aliens. After years of education and research, she has successfully infused her passion for astrobiology with medicine, leading teams that have discovered breakthroughs benefiting women’s health worldwide.
“It turns out that life detection missions in astrobiology are not that different from pathogen detection in humans,” she says.
And that childhood fascination with life beyond our planet has led her down a unique and unexpected path of improving the lives of people right here on earth.
“In research there are things that don’t always work,” she says. “But you’re not going to make any splash if you don’t try.”
Bahman and Becky Hoveida believe in a future of healthcare where cancers are diagnosed earlier.
Cancer Care Beyond Walls has made life a lot easier for patients with cancer and their families.
This new equipment will allow Mayo Clinic to develop lifesaving cancer therapies.