It’s a long road from the University of Pennsylvania to Amsterdam, but cancer research knows no bounds. 

For Tony Wu, a research specialist in the radiation oncology lab at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute of the Perelman School of Medicine, obtaining a doctorate degree has always been a personal goal, and coming to work at Penn made that possible. 

In 2007, Wu moved from Lawrence, Kan., to work in the laboratory of Andy Minn, a physician-scientist studying cancer at the University of Chicago. Over time, Minn became Wu’s mentor. 

When Minn joined the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute in 2010, he brought Wu along to manage his lab here. 

After speaking with a colleague at Penn, Wu learned about and enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts program at the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. 

Wu says the program allowed him to earn his graduate degree while still working full-time, helping him to create a work-life balance. 

He was also able to design his own curriculum that allowed him to explore various subjects in different schools around the University and ultimately focused on social policy-related coursework. 

Earning his graduate degree from LPS has provided professional development and research opportunities says Wu. 

In the fall, he was one of the lead authors on “Exosome Transfer From Stromal to Breast Cancer Cells Regulates Therapy Resistance Pathways,” published in the journal Cell. The article describes how breast cancer cells use anti-viral signaling to resist therapy and reinitiate tumor growth. 

The study points to potential targets for drugs that would soften the disease’s resistance to treatment. 

“My role included everything from experimental design to data analysis,” says Wu,who credits the research team, including postdoctoral fellow Mirjam Boelens and Ph.D. candidate Barzin Nabet and Minn. 

Minn says that Wu has been an invaluable asset to the lab in multiple ways. 

“Without Tony, the project examining novel regulatory pathways for breast cancer therapy resistance would never have been successful,” Minn says. “In his capacity as lab manager, he facilitated the mission of the lab and its overall success.” 

Outside of research and managing the lab, Wu serves as the regional director of Major League Bocce. He helped bring the sport to Philadelphia. 

“I knew nothing about bocce and only stumbled onto the league after a friend found a LivingSocial deal,” Wu says. Soon, he became friends with the founders and agreed to help them run the league in Philadelphia. 

“Since Philly residents enjoyed our league, I was able to help quickly expand MLBocce’s operations,” says Wu. “Currently, we offer outdoor divisions in Northern Liberties at the Piazza and Liberty Lands Park, South Philly at Jefferson Square, Dilworth Park in Center City and Spruce Street Harbor Park by the river.” 

Now, Wu is preparing to travel along a new road. He is packing for a move to Amsterdam next fall, where will pursue a doctoral program at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. 

He is already working on his Ph.D. project, which builds on the work published in the Cell research article. 

“We are interested in further interrogating some of the genes and pathways we implicated in therapy resistance and developing novel methods to render these tumors sensitive to treatment,” Wu says. 

Minn commends Wu’s determination and says, “He is an exemplary team player and will do well at whatever he sets his mind to.”