Where are they now: Andrew BeltCappellino

Advances in medical research are quickly changing what we know about illness and disease — not only in terms of diagnosis, but also how and when we treat various diseases. 

Among those literally on the front lines of cancer research is Andrew BeltCappellino, a Shelter Island High School graduate whose work today could potentially save the lives of cancer patients down the road.

Mr. BeltCappellino, valedictorian of Shelter Island High School’s class of 2011, is currently working at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Ft. Dietrick in Frederick, Maryland. The facility is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is about 40 miles northwest of the NCI’s main campus in Bethesda.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from SUNY Binghamton in May 2015 and joined the Cancer Institute last February as a fellow in the NIH’s post baccalaureate cancer research training award program. The program provides recent college graduates an opportunity to gain experience in biomedical research alongside some of the world’s leading scientists.

Mr. BeltCappellino plans to be at the NCI for two years and the work he is performing there falls under the Tumor Virus RNA Biology Section of NCI’s Gene Regulation and Chromosome Biology Laboratory.

“I primarily study different cancers and cancer-related mechanisms,” Mr. BeltCappellino explained in a recent phone interview with The Reporter.

Mr. BeltCapellino’s main focuses of study are two specific cancer-causing viruses — Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV).

“That’s the one I primarily work with,” said Mr. BeltCappellino, referring to KSHV. “It’s a virus that causes cancer in those with suppressed immune systems.”

Most people probably recall hearing about Kaposi sarcoma during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. KSHV appears as purple, red or brown blotches — or lesions — that form on the skin or inside the mouth. Kaposi sarcoma tumors can also develop in lymph nodes, lungs, or the digestive tract. It’s a type of cancer that develops from the cells lining lymph or blood vessels and it often affects HIV/AIDS patients.

“For the average person, KSHV won’t do anything because it’s similar to other herpes viruses,” explained Mr. BeltCappellino. “It has a latent stage and a lytic stage. In the latent stage, it’s dormant and evades detection and in a normal person it remains in latent.”

But he notes that in immune-compromised patients, like those with HIV or organ transplant patients on immunosuppressant drugs, KSHV can become lytic, which means it starts replicating uncontrollably throughout the body.

“We primarily study how it works. Our lab is involved in RNA and protein interactions,” Mr. BeltCappellino said. “We do a lot of work with RNA, which is becoming a bigger field than biology.”

“RNA is the copy from the DNA and it gets turned into the proteins that make up you,” he explained. “Our work is really about the changes the virus causes in humans and RNA.”

One of the tools helping to further cancer research is digital technology and Mr. BeltCappellino credits the increased capacity of new computers with greatly enhancing the ability of researchers, like those he works with at the NCI, to make breakthroughs.

“You can have so much more data now. Before sequencing, DNA was a big deal, now we can sequence RNA for analysis,” he said. “And because we’re a government research facility, all our scientific papers can be looked up for free.”

“It’s very exciting work,” said Mr. BeltCappellino. “It’s cool to be around amazing technicians and very smart people.”

As a past Shelter Island valedictorian, Mr. BeltCappellino is very smart himself. Though he’s not yet sure what he’ll be doing once he leaves the NCI a year from February, it will no doubt be in the field of science.

“I’m trying to decide between a medical degree and a Ph.D.,” he said.

Leaving the small world of Shelter Island behind for the cutting edge environment of cancer research is a big leap, and Mr. BeltCappellino shared insight about how his experiences on the Island have helped prepare him for the career he is now pursuing.

He admits he was always strongly oriented toward math and science during his high school career and he particularly appreciated the guidance of Walter Brigham, his math and computer teacher, and Dan Williams, who taught him biology.

“I liked being able to bond with the teachers as much as I did,” he said. “The teachers really got to know the students and the students got to know the teachers.”

“I also liked Ann Marie Galasso. She taught chemistry and physics and was my homeroom teacher,” he added. “She was really great.”

While the ability to bond with teachers is a great benefit of going to a small school, did Mr. BeltCappellino feel he was at a disadvantage when he got to college and started meeting students from much bigger districts?

“The lack of college and AP courses was difficult,” he said. “In college, you registered based on how many credits you had. My peers got to register earlier because they already had college credits.

“In high school, you’re the smart kid, then you move onto college and everyone’s smart and competitive by nature,” said Mr. BeltCappellino who, nonetheless, felt he was well prepared for college.

Mr. BeltCapellino adds that the Shelter Island School science program has become more advanced since he was a student.

“They’re really building up the program, which is great,” he said. “When I was in college, [the Shelter Island science students] went to Brookhaven [National] Lab.”

When asked what advice he would give current students at Shelter Island High School who are interested in pursuing a career in math and science, Mr. BeltCappellino responded: “I would say take advantage of all the opportunities you have on Shelter Island. But also, if you can, try to experience things off Island.”

“There’s only so much offered there — it was good for me to do a Stony Brook [University] biotech summer program,” he said. “It introduced me to some of the techniques I still use now.”

“It was my first exposure to research,” he said. “That was a big thing.”