Meet Jaydira Del Rivero, MD
“Do not listen to limitations imposed upon you by others. If you have willpower to do what you need to do and are persistent and resilient, you will succeed. ”
Physician Scientist in the Developmental Therapeutics Branch of the National Cancer Institute, member of the Healing NET Scientific Advisory Committee, and board member of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society.
Healing NET Executive Director, Mia S. Tepper, MBA, recently had the pleasure of learning more about how Dr. Del Rivero came to be working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigating neuroendocrine cancer:
Dr. Del Rivero grew up in the small mountainous town of San Andres Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico. Initially, she wanted to be an astrophysicist, and she also loved to dance as it inspired her creative expression. Her parents, who had not had the same opportunities for education, encouraged her to go to medical school. Her generation was the first in the family to go to college. When she did an internship focused on community service, she observed firsthand the disparity in care and cultural biases present in her town in Mexico. This inspired her passion to provide better care for her family members and the members of her community.
She earned her M.D. from the University of Veracruz Medical School, did several internships in Mexico, and also took courses to be licensed in the United States. She then did a residency in internal medicine at Woodhull Medical Center/New York University–Langone Medical Center. In 2011, she came to the NIH for an inter-institute endocrinology fellowship and then did a medical oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) before becoming an assistant research physician in 2017 and being promoted to associate research physician in 2022.
To this day, Dr. Del Rivero is a passionate advocate for patients and caregivers, as well as a thoughtful mentor to her mentees. Her philosophy with respect to helping post-doctoral students can be summed up by her comment, “What the mentor can do for the mentee is more important than what the mentee can do for the mentor.” Further, her advice for young girls aspiring to have a career is, “Do not listen to limitations imposed upon you by others. If you have willpower to do what you need to do and are persistent and resilient, you will succeed.”
Dr. Del Rivero’s research focuses on developing novel treatment approaches and targeted therapies in the areas of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), adrenocortical cancer (ACC) and pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (Pheo/Para). Her research is widely published, and she speaks regularly at national conferences for patients and caregivers, such as NCAN, and professional physician society conferences, such as NANETS and ESMO.
Dr. Del Rivero is currently recruiting for three clinical trials (2024 and beyond):
Tissue Procurement and Natural History Study of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) Including Adrenocortical Carcinoma (ACC). NCT05237934. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05237934?term=del%20rivero,%20jaydira&rank=3
Testing the Addition of an Anticancer Drug, Olaparib, to the Usual Chemotherapy (Temozolomide) for Advanced Neuroendocrine Cancer. NCT04394858. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04394858?term=del%20rivero,%20jaydira&rank=1
Antibody Drug Conjugate ADCT-701 in Neuroendocrine Tumors and Carcinomas NCT06041516 https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06041516?term=del%20rivero,%20jaydira&rank=2