Three HMS postdoctoral fellows have been awarded fellowships by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. The Damon Runyon Fellowship recognizes exceptional postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators.
The four-year fellowship seeks to encourage promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing independent funding to investigate cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies, and prevention.
“We are thrilled to be funding these innovative young scientists,” said Yung Lie, president and CEO of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
“They are committed to understanding the fundamental processes driving cancer, which may ultimately lead to new therapeutic approaches for patients,” said Lie.
The three new Damon Runyon Fellows from HMS are:
Xin Gu, research fellow in the Department of Neurobiology, whose work focuses on revealing the mechanisms of immediate-early gene (IEG) expression in cells and establishing model systems to study the physiological and disease-related outcomes caused by misregulation of this process. Gu was recognized with her sponsor, Michael Greenberg.
Manuel Osorio Valeriano, research fellow in the Department of Cell Biology, who is researching chromatin regulation by the protein complex NuRD and the potential for NuRD dysregulation to result in the emergence of several types of cancers. Osorio Valeriano was recognized with his sponsor, Lucas Farnung.
Ge Zhu, HMS research fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, whose work uses large-scale antigen screening methods to identify cancer-associated antigens recognized by T cells activated in breast cancer patients during immunotherapy treatment. Zhu was recognized with his sponsor, Stephen Elledge.
Rachel Conrad, HMS instructor in psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has been named a 2022 USA Justice Fellow by the Eisenhower Fellowships.
The inaugural cohort of Justice Fellows includes 11 mid-career U.S. professionals from law enforcement, medicine, bioscience, academia, finance, education, and civic engagement. Justice Fellows will travel abroad on a personalized itinerary to meet with experts in their fields in the hopes of developing new strategies for combatting entrenched racial discrimination in their communities and professions.
Conrad’s research focuses on the decline of mental health of young adults and the increasing demand for psychiatric services. During her Justice Fellowship, she will visit Australia and Malaysia to explore means of improving equal access to mental health treatment.
Gabriel Romero, a research fellow in the Department of Neurobiology at HMS, has been named a 2022 Hanna Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The Hanna Gray Fellowship seeks to recruit and retain individuals from gender, racial, ethnic, and other groups underrepresented in the life sciences, including those individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Hanna Gray Fellows receive funding for their postdoctoral training and may continue to receive funding during their early career years as independent faculty.
Romero’s research focuses on how the brain communicates its internal state to the ear by revealing the neural pathways and mechanisms underlying auditory responses to stress.
Two HMS researchers have been named Ben J. Lipps Research Fellows by KidneyCure, the American Society of Nephrology’s Foundation for Kidney Research.
The Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship Program supports nephrology fellows who will advance the understanding of kidney biology and disease.
The two recipients from HMS are:
Orhan Efe, HMS clinical fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Le Xiao, HMS research fellow in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Boston Children’s Hospital
