Bianca Romo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology Office Location: Agnese/Sosa, 7th Floor, Room 106 Phone: (210) 829-3831 Email: baromo@uiwtx.eduDr. Romo is from the very small town of Artesia, NM and is a first-generation graduate. She attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio for her undergrad and while there, she discovered she had a passion for research. Through her research, she was able to participate in projects spanning basic science, animal physiology and translational research. It was this experience in a translational research lab that cemented her desire to study human disease. She completed her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. While at Dartmouth, she discovered her passion for teaching and mentoring. In 2023, she returned to San Antonio as a SABER*IRACDA Post-Doctoral Scholar to gain further training in the fields of research and teaching. Dr. Romo joined the UIW Faculty in Fall 2025.
- Ph.D. Cancer Biology, Dartmouth College, 2023
- B.S. Biology, St. Mary’s University, 2017
- Assistant Professor of Biology, University of the Incarnate Word, 2025-current
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, SABER IRACDA Program, 2023-2025
- Adjunct Faculty, Colby-Sawyer College, 2021
- Dartmouth Graduate Mentor, Dartmouth Rural STEM Educator Partnership, 2022-2023
- Student Mentor, Dartmouth ASURE Summer Program, 2019
- Targeting the LIF/LIFR axis reduces the progression of inflammatory breast cancer by promoting ferroptosis- American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2025
- Significance of LIF/LIFR axis in the progression of inflammatory breast cancer- American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2024
- Romo B, Fuentes Z, Randolph L, Mahajan M, Aller EJ, Ebrahimi B, Santhamma B, Pratap UP, Subbarayalu P, Nagandla H, Thomas C, Nair HB, Vadlamudi RK, Viswanadhapalli S. Targeting the Leukemia Inhibitory Factor/Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Receptor Axis Reduces the Growth of Inflammatory Breast Cancer by Promoting Ferroptosis. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Feb 25;17(5):790. doi: 10.3390/cancers17050790. PMID: 40075639; PMCID: PMC11898489.
- Romo BA, Karakyriakou B, Cressey L, Brauer BL, Yang H, Warren A, Johnson AL, Kettenbach AN, Miller TW. TRIM33 Is a Co-Regulator of Estrogen Receptor Alpha. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Feb 20;16(5):845. doi: 10.3390/cancers16050845. PMID: 38473207; PMCID: PMC10930732.
- Traphagen NA, Schwartz GN, Tau S, Roberts AM, Jiang A, Hosford SR, Marotti JD, Goen AE, Romo BA, Johnson AL, Duffy EK, Demidenko E, Heverly P, Mosesson Y, Soucy SM, Kolling F, Miller TW. Estrogen Therapy Induces Receptor-Dependent DNA Damage Enhanced by PARP Inhibition in ER+ Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Sep 15;29(18):3717-3728. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-23-0488. PMID: 37439680; PMCID: PMC10528687.
- Schwartz G, Shee K, Romo B, Marotti J, Kisselev A, Lewis L, Miller T. Phase Ib Study of the Oral Proteasome Inhibitor Ixazomib (MLN9708) and Fulvestrant in Advanced ER+ Breast Cancer Progressing on Fulvestrant. Oncologist. 2021 Jun;26(6):467-e924. doi: 10.1002/onco.13733. Epub 2021 Mar 18. PMID: 33641211; PMCID: PMC8176977.
- Cardinal Outreach Faculty Mentor
- BIOL 2321 Anatomy & Physiology I
- BIOL 1402 General Biology for Majors
My research interests focus on Breast Cancer, specifically Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC). IBC is a very rare subtype of breast cancer with limited therapeutic options. In an effort to combat this problem, I am to investigate the effects of novel therapeutic combinations for the treatment of Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) through drug repurposing.