Miranda Broz - Bristol Myers Squibb Featured Researcher

Miranda Broz, PhD, serves as a scientific director of Discovery Myeloid Biology,  Cancer Immunology and Cell Therapy at Bristol Myers Squibb’s R&D site in Redwood City, California. In this role, Miranda and her team are responsible for exploring parts of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in order to better uncover how a tumor functions, with the hope of eventually turning these findings into novel treatment options that will benefit patients with difficult-to-treat cancers. 

The TME encompasses the network of cells and structure surrounding a tumor, including a number of different cell types, such as regulatory T cells, stromal cells and myeloid antigen presenting cells. Miranda and her team specifically work to better understand how they can target myeloid cells – one of the most abundant cell types found within the TME, which play a crucial role in tumor growth and spread – with hopes to progress research that may enhance a patient’s own immune response against the tumor cells.

“Through our research, we evaluate different populations of myeloid cells to better explore their interactions across tumor types and patient populations,” she said. “That way, we can learn how these different subsets work, and, how we as researchers can better target them therapeutically.” 

Prior to joining Bristol Myers Squibb, Miranda spent time at Pionyr Immunotherapeutics, now part of Ikena Oncology. Miranda earned her bachelor’s degree in microbiology at the University of California Berkeley and went on to earn a PhD in immunology at the University of California San Francisco.