Sara Sellers

We’re delighted that Sara Sellers joined PhotonPharma as an intern in January of 2023 and continues, now as a Colorado State University (CSU) graduate, through September 2023.

Her bachelor's degree is in Biomedical Science with an emphasis in Microbiology & Infectious Disease. She completed her degree on a full ride scholarship, thanks to the Reisher Scholarship Foundation.

 Sara’s interest in oncology and virology was sparked in a Virology class and more personally, by her mother’s simultaneous breast cancer diagnosis.  These drive her desire to continue researching the relationship between certain viruses and cancers.

 Luckily, her university experiences and work with PhotonPharma have given her fun and practical skills to do so.  She’s worked in the laboratory conducting IFA stains to analyze cancer cell markers (CA-125 and HE4) and cell proliferation (edu, Click-iT assay) before and after illumination using the Innocell technology. Using a variety of cell lines (Hela, Ovcar3, Caov3, ID8) she and the team have been able to measure the effects of the treatment on cells with different compositions and observe them over an extended period. 

 Long term, Sara plans to pursue further education in epidemiology and global health with the intent to improve healthcare access to all.

Boehringer Ingelheim International Veterinary Scholar

Fort Collins, CO. 31 March  2021 –  Savannah Snell was selected as a Boehringer Ingelheim International Veterinary Scholar via the Veterinary Summer Scholars Program at Colorado State University.  Savannah will research the use of PhotonPharma’s Innocell™ vaccine with a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor as a potential combination therapy. 

PD-1 Checkpoint Inhibition
The immune system maintains a dynamic balance between regressive and aggressive immune activity that must prevent autoimmunity yet provide protection against pathogens.  Cancer uses these regressive mechanisms to suppress the immune system in its immediate microenvironment, making the tumor “invisible” to the body’s natural defenses. 

Checkpoint inhibitors prevent this.  They help boost immune response and overcome immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment, allowing the immune system to recognize the cancer. 

CSU Ventures Innovator Highlight

Raymond Goodrich, PhD Microbiology Immunology Pathology, Infectious Disease Research Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences [Read more]

CSU Ventures Award for Innovative Excellence

This award is presented to a researcher who is not only an innovator but someone whose innovations have been transferred to industry and are exhibiting strong potential for commercial success.

Raymond Goodrich, Ph.D., Executive Director IDRC; Professor, Infectious Disease Research Center and Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology

Goodrich has a lifelong history of translational research achievement. Since joining CSU, Goodrich has transformed the Infectious Disease Research Center, and particularly led BioMARC to be a significant biomedical industry partner for cGMP production of clinical supplies to support development of innovative therapeutics. Goodrich is the cofounder of Photon Pharma, a CSU startup that licenses the CSU-owned technology fundamental to the novel Innocell™ cancer immunotherapy. Goodrich is the principal inventor on a novel water purification method and on several CSURF patent applications that are the focus of licensing initiatives to industry partners.

Innocell Canine Trial Results Published

September, 2020

The September, 2020 edition of Journal of Immunology Research features a peer reviewed article describing PhotonPharma’s canine trial of client owned animals with spontaneous cancers as treated with Innocell #Immunotherapy. This safety and tolerability trial also captured immune responses to Innocell therapy demonstrating that the treatment triggers cytokine activity consistent with a new immune response. Further, tumor generated cytokine levels were shown to drop in the hours following treatment, indicating an acute anti-tumor response was stimulated in the dogs. Post trial follow up of two of the three patients show they continued to thrive six months post treatment.

PhotonPharma Inc. published in may 2020 vox sanguinis Journal

The May, 2020 edition of Vox Sanguinis features a peer reviewed article on PhotonPharma’s preclinical research. The article describes a new approach for #Immunotherapy which utilizes autologous tumor tissue from patients with #Cancer and treatment with a photochemical method involving Riboflavin(RF) and UV light to prepare cancer vaccines. 

The Colorado State University study, including Infectious Disease Research Center director and #MIP professor Ray Goodrich, PhD, evaluated the ability of the treatment to stimulate immune response and slow tumor growth and metastatic disease in murine models of breast cancer. 

The data suggest that the RF + UV inactivation of tumor cells may provide an efficacious method for generating autologous whole tumor cell vaccines for use in cancer patients.
Authors: Haemin Park, Matthew Gladstone, Crystal Shanley, Raymond Goodrich, Amanda Guth

NoCo Bio Summit, September 2019 - Amanda Guth

November 2019

PhotonPharma presents at the BioTech Showcase at JP Morgan week

PhotonPharma was selected to present on their emerging immuno-oncology therapy at the annual BioTech Showcase, sponsored by Demy Colton. The company made a podium presentation on January 9, 2019 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. For More Information click here.

PhotonPharma selected to present at 2019 Destination Startup

Congratulations to PhotonPharma and other Colorado based startups selected for this year's Destination Startup program. More than 30 judges reviewed submissions of over 40 teams from every University and some National Research Laboratories to choose the best that Colorado has to offer. PhotonPharma was selected as one of the most promising innovations coming out of the research labs in Colorado. 

CU Boulder Technology Transfer Office / Read Full Article

September 2018

PhotonPharma Internship Award (tissue culture, Flow Cytometry)

PhotonPharma was awarded $10K to fund CSU student Haemin Park for a project that focuses on developing a novel cancer vaccine that combines whole inactivated tumor cells with novel adjuvants to fight solid tumor cancers. The work will include mice and canine tissue culture, flow cytometry and Innocell that utilizes riboflavin and UV light to inactivate tumor cells. Haemin is a first-year DVM student at CSU.

CSU Vice President for Research / Read Full Article

July 2018

PhotonPharma now has office and laboratory space at the CSU IDRC RIC building on the foothill's campus. Here is the June 2018 newsletter from the IDRC with a paragraph about our company and its occupancy at the RIC.

CSU Vice President for Research / Read Full Article