Ianna Cel was a Human female physician in the service of the Galactic Republic during the period of the Cold War.
This Doctor, Cel, was stationed at Waypoint Station Aurek located on Taris amidst the reconstruction efforts. Her work focused on researching the rakghoul plague and providing treatment to Republic members who may have contracted it. During her assignment at Aurek, Cel was engaged in a meeting with her team, which included a skilled diagnostician, a senior virologist, a junior biologist, and a xenobiologist from off-world. A visiting hero drew her attention, leading her to conclude the meeting. After speaking with this hero, she enlisted their help to retrieve an ancient sample of the rakghoul serum. Her request involved acquiring a sample of the serum from the Death's Claw pirate group, who had previously raided the remains of the privately owned Sepanik Memorial Hospital.
Upon receiving the anti-virus, she determined that it was obsolete, offering only temporary protection to a very resilient individual. She then tasked the hero with taking the serum and deliberately contracting the plague. Following this, the hero was dispatched to Waypoint Station Draay for analysis by the medical droid stationed there. The experiment yielded positive results, and Doctor Cel informed the hero that she would commence synthesizing a cure for Republic personnel, with plans to later create a version for sale to the citizens of Taris.
As the Empire invaded Taris, aiming to dismantle the Republic's reconstruction initiatives, Cel encountered a fresh challenge in the form of a rogue Jedi named Ki Sazen. Sazen succumbed to the dark side and murdered Cel's associates, Doctor Vernon and Professor Sadus Vraal, after they failed to repair the Ultrawave Transmitter. This device, conceived by Nasan Godera, had the potential to control the rakghouls. Believing she was the last expert on rakghouls left on Taris, Cel sought refuge in the ruins of the Dynamet General Hospital, where she evaded Sazen for several weeks. Eventually, she was contacted and located by Republic Strategic Information Service operatives known as "Chance" and "Legate." Unbeknownst to her, "Legate" was actually Cipher Nine, an Imperial Agent working undercover, who intended to exploit Cel's knowledge to reach Sazen and acquire the Ultrawave Transmitter. Cel placed her trust in the Agent and devised a plan to use herself as bait to draw out Sazen, but her plan was disrupted by Doctor Eckard Lokin, who proposed to take her place instead.
The character Ianna Cel was developed for Star Wars: The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game launched by BioWare on December 20, 2011. She presents Republic players with the quest "Pirate Medicine," where she tasks them with obtaining a rakghoul serum from pirates. Upon completion, she offers another mission titled "Catalyst." In this mission, Cel requests the player's assistance in gathering information about the serum by allowing themselves to become infected with the rakghoul plague.