Researcher Stories
Get to know the PhRMA Foundation’s award recipients.
Looking Beyond GLP-1 Therapies to Treat Obesity
Kate Bowman, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, is investigating alternative therapeutic targets for treating obesity.
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How Checking the Wrong Box Led to the Right Career Path in Cancer Research
Ahmad Salman Sirajee, a PhD student at Rutgers University, is developing a noninvasive diagnostic tool that identifies patterns of DNA fragments in the bloodstream to help doctors better classify and monitor bladder cancer patients.
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Problem-Solving to Fix Lab Equipment and Advance Cancer Therapy
Abe Wu, a PhD student at the University of Washington, is developing biomaterials to improve cancer cell therapies, which use engineered immune cells to target and kill tumors.
Watch NowDesigning Tiny ‘Grenades’ to Penetrate Solid Cancer Tumors
Indrani Das, an MD‑PhD student at Case Western Reserve University, is developing a peptide that can penetrate solid cancer tumors to improve chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.
Awardee Spotlight
Lining Zheng, PhD
- University of California, Berkeley
“This award not only provides critical funding support for my postdoctoral research but also reinforces my commitment to advancing drug delivery science. My research focuses on unraveling how proteins influence lipid nanoparticle delivery systems, with the goal of improving their intracellular delivery efficiency. This fellowship is especially meaningful to me because it serves as strong validation of my research direction and the impact it can have. ”
Advancing Precision Treatment for Childhood Leukemia
Dr. Ruida Hou, a postdoctoral trainee at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, studies acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of pediatric cancer, and the role of a specific enzyme that leukemia cells need to grow and survive.