Fellowship Awards

Pathways to Excellence

The Fellowship program aims to support Post-Doctoral Scholars/Fellows, Residents, and Graduate Students in cancer research by providing funding and guidance to develop and submit NIH F-grant applications. The program welcomes applicants from all areas of cancer research, including basic, translational, clinical, and population science. By offering this support, the program seeks to help fellows advance their careers and contribute to the field of cancer research.

Fellowship Award Process

Award star trophy on abstract background

Awardee Period

Fellowship awards are for a one-year funding period and it is expected that recipients will fully expend all funds within that period.

Award Period

Clipboard with checklist on abstract background

Review Criteria

Includes the quality of the applicant’s current proposal as well as evidence of ability to do the project based on their past work. Relevance to cancer research must be clearly described.

Awards Criteria

Application approval check on graphic background

How to Apply

For complete application instructions. Access the online submission tool by visiting the Application Submission section of the UCLA CCLE shared system.

Apply for Fellowship Awards Program

Previous Fellowship Award Recipients

2024 Awardees

Raag Agrawal (Graduate Student)

Project Title: Genomic Markers for Metastasis and Treatment Resistance in Prostate Cancer

Irene Cho (Graduate Student)

Project Title: Salivary Cell-Free DNA Liquid Biopsy Early Detection of Gastric Cancer

Erika Jank (Graduate Student)

Project Title: A novel method for characterizing soft tissue decomposition in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherap

Terry John Prins (Graduate Student)

Project Title: Profiling the m6A epitranscriptomic landscape in IDHMUT and IDHWT patient glioma tumors using third generation Nanopore Sequencing.

Jesus Juarez (Graduate Student)

Project Title: Preliminary Assessment of a Germline DNA-Based Radiosensitivity Biomarker and its Influence on Toxicity Following Prostate Radiotherapy

Michelle Loui (Graduate Student)

Project Title: Tracking and Reactivating Humoral Immunity Through Systems Serology

Emily Mobley (Graduate Student)

Project Title: Shortwave Infrared Fluorescent Star Polymers as Water-Soluble Optical Imaging Probes

Travis Nguyen (Graduate Student)

Project Title: Galectin-1 Modulated Glycolysis Accelerating Liver Cancer Stem Cell Proliferation Plays a Role in Post-ablation Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Sandy Che-Eun Lee, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Viral Mimicry: Investigating the Role of PNPT1 in LKB1 Mutant Lung Cancer

Yannan Lin, PhD, MPH (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Predicting Non-adherence to Lung Cancer Screening: Integrating National Data with Patient Psychological and Social Determinants of Health Factors

Zhiyuan Mao, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Isolating T Cell Receptors Targeting Prostatic Acid Phosphatase Using the Nanovial Platform on High-frequency HLA-A Alleles

Maya Segal, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Uncovering Environmental and Genetic Drivers of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Black Americans: A Comprehensive Genomic and Evolutionary Analysis

Alexandra Smick, MD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Mechanisms to prevent peritoneal cancer cell engraftment

Grigor Varuzhanyan, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Exploring the Impact of PGC-1α-Induced Metabolic Reprogramming on Development and Lineage Determination in Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer

Yuanyuan Wang, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Deciphering the functions of MLLT3 isoforms in hematopoietic and leukemia stem cell fate decisions

Yue Wang, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Mapping human fetal hematopoietic niches to understand trisomy 21 pre-natal leukemia predisposition

Eulanca Y. Liu, MD, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Temporospatial Classification of Brain Metastases and Radiation Necrosis: Leveraging Large Patient Datasets for Comprehensive Predictive Modeling

Chenghao Zhu, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Project Title: Quantifying the Clinical and Translational Potential of Hidden Cancer Proteome

2023 Awardees

Nicholas Bayley (Graduate Student)

Mentor: David Nathanson, PhD

Project Title: Investigating Metabolic and Microenvironmental Constraints and Vulnerabilities in Brain Cancers

Jieun Oh (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Paul Boutros, PhD, MBA

Project Title: Characterizing the Genomic and Evolutionary Landscape of Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer

Joon Park, MD (Resident)

Mentor: Mark Girgis, MD

Project Title: Burying their own dead: Defining AXL dependent non-professional efferocytosis in pancreatic cancer

Yang Wang (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Roger Lo, MD,PhD

Project Title: Targeting micronuclei formation to prevent acquired resistance to MAPK inhibitor therapy in melanoma

Amanda Creech (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Caius Radu, MD,

Project Title: Enhanced anti-tumor efficacy through TCR-T cell therapy combined with mutant KRAS inhibition in pancreatic cancer

Chris Massey (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Tanya Stoyanova, PhD

Project Title: Development of anti-Trop2 Antibody-based Radiopharmaceuticals for Epithelial Cancers

Yagmur Muftuoglu, MD PhD (Graduate Student)

Mentor: David Nathanson, PhD

Project Title: Drug Resistance Mediated by Extrachromosomal DNA in GBM

Angelina Flores (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Amy Rowat, PhD,

Project Title: Defining the role of NUDIX5 in ovarian cancer

Luda Lin (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Alice Soragni, PhD,

Project Title: Development of a 3D Tonsillar Organoid Model of Malignant Transformation Induced by Human Papillomavirus

Tyler McCaw, MD (Resident)

Mentor: Joseph Crompton, MD, PhD

Project Title: Reversing Exhaustion of Surgically Procured Anti-tumor T Cells

Helena Winata (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Paul Boutros, PhD, MBA

Project Title: Improving tumor evolution studies through the development of a robust subclonal reconstruction algorithm A comprehensive toolkit to standardize subclonal reconstruction analysis for multi-sample data Developing a fast and efficient algorithm for large-scale subclonal reconstruction analysis

Annamarie Allnutt (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Thomas Graeber, PhD

Project Title: Proteotoxic stress as a pan-cancer therapeutic vulnerability for cancers harboring extrachromosomal DNA

Ryan Kan (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Aparna Bhaduri, PhD

Project Title: Elucidating the role of PTPRZ1 catalytic activity and dimerization in driving Glioblastoma progression

Meng-Wei Ko PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Hanna Mikkola, MD, PhD

Project Title: Uncovering the role of MLLT3 isoforms in human HSC maturation

Shiqin Liu, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Tanya Stoyanova, PhD

Project Title: Testing UCHL1 as a Molecular Indicator and Therapeutic Target for Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer

Justine Bailleul, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Erina Vlashi, PhD

Project Title: Investigating the role of glucose transporters in radiation resistance of glioblastomas

Adam Weiner, MD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Robert Reiter, MD, MBA

Project Title: Correlating PSMA expression with molecular profiles in prostate cancer

Martins Ayoola-Adeola, MD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Sandra Orsulic, PhD

Project Title: Perioperative Nanotherapy for Ovarian Cancer

Mohammad Arshad Aziz, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: David Wong, DMD, DMSc

Project Title: Ultra-Short Circulating Tumor DNA (usctDNA): A Novel Landscape of ctDNAs for Liquid Biopsy in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Patients

Lizhong Ding, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Willy Hugo, PhD

Project Title: A gene set scoring algorithm for efficient cell type quantification in spatial transcriptomic data

Houfu Leng, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Heather Christofk, PhD

Project Title: Impact of tryptophan metabolism on multiple myeloma

Suwen Li, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Christopher Seet, MD, PhD

Project Title: The role of death signaling in the anti-tumor function of PSC- derived T Cells

2022 Awardees

Jocelyn Diane Rodriguez (Graduate Student)

Mentor: David Shackelford, PhD,

Project Title: Characterization of mitochondrial dynamics within well- differentiated/ dedifferentiated liposarcoma to understand its role in tumorigenesis

Michael Cohen (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Steven D. Mittelman, MD, PhD,

Project Title: Investigating Novel Mechanisms Underlying Crosstalk Between Adipose Tissue and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells

Kyle Klingbeil, MD (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Brian Kadera, MD

Project Title: Characterization of mitochondrial dynamics within well- differentiated/ dedifferentiated liposarcoma to understand its role in tumorigenesis

Alykhan Premji, MD (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Timothy Donahue, MD

Project Title: Pharmacologic STING Activation and MEK Inhibition as a Treatment Approach for Pancreatic Cancer

Jack Freeland (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Thomas Graeber, PhD

Project Title: Targeting Genomic instability in Lethal Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer

Hailey Lee (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Caius Radu, MD

Project Title: TLR7 enhances T cell fitness through metabolic rewiring of nucleoside salvage in pancreatic cancer.

Marc Creixell (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Aaron Meyer, PhD

Project Title: Systematic study of anti-tumor antibody responses in ovarian cancer through a tailored systems serology and modeling strategy

Bitta Kahangi (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Steven M. Dubinett, MD

Project Title: Investigating the role of Neuropilin-1 signaling in the immune function of CD4 conventional T cells

Henan Zhu, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Thomas Graeber, PhD

Project Title: Bioinformatics Analyses to Pre-Clinically Reveal Resistance Mechanisms of Targeted-EGFR Therapy In GBM

Katherine Cotangco, DO (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Roshan Bastani, PhD, Annette E. Maxwell, Dr. PhD
Project Title: Cervical Cancer Disparities in Los Angeles – exploring how social factors are associated with screening.

Sydney Campbell, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Heather Christofk, PhD
Project Title: Nutrient Regulation of Hepatic Progenitor Cells in Nash -Driven HCC

Julia Aguade Gorgorio, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Hanna Mikkola, MD, PhD

Project Title: Dissecting the function of endosomal adapter MYCT1 in human HSC expansion and engraftment

Xiao Zhang, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Roger Lo, MD, PhD

Project Title: Blocking Chromothripsis to Overcome Acquired MAPKi Resistance in Melanoma

2021 Awardees

Matthew Miller (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Manish Butte, MD, PhD

Project Title: Immunoengineering an exclusive fuel source to enhance tumor infiltrating lymphocytes

Peyton Tebon (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Alice Soragni, PhD

Project Title: Biopriniting immunocompetent sarcoma organiods for high-throughput personalized drug screening

Qihui Lyu (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Ke Sheng, PhD

Project Title: Adding new degrees of freedom to radiotherapy treatment using reinforcement learning and deep neural networks

Jee Yun Han (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Paul Boutros, MBA, PhD

Project Title: Comprehensive study of gene expression outliers and the regulation mechanism in pan-cancer

Benjamin Uy (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Yvonne Chen, PhD

Project Title: Tandem Bispecific CAR-Ts Against IL-13Rα2 and TGF- β for Glioblastoma Therapy

Nicholas Wang (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Paul Boutros, MBA, PhD

Project Title: The Evolution of Lethal Prostate Cancer

Jie Deng, MD PhD (Resident)

Mentor: Anusha Kalbasi, MD

Project Title: Intercepting the immune-suppressive myeloid axis in sarcoma with intratumaoral BO - 112 and Radiation

Amanda N. Labora, MD (Resident)

Mentor: Timothy Donahue, MD

Project Title: Exploring therapeutic targets in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma through STING-dependent IFN signaling

Matthew Sun, MD (Resident)

Mentor: Richard Everson, MD

Project Title: Investigating Decitabine’s Immunomodulatory Effects on Immunotherapies for Malignant Meningioma

Pashanthi Dharanipragada, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Roger Lo, MD, PhD

Project Title: Landscape of Targeted Therapy Resistance in Melanoma

Ling He, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Frank Pajonk, MD, PhD

Project Title: Gender-specific Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Signaling Modulates Development and Carcinogenesis in Breast Tissue

Amelia Palermo, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Thomas Graeber, PhD

Project Title: Metabolic dependencies of ecDNA and HSR focal amplification modes and resulting oncogene plasticity

Grace Xiao Guo, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Jorge Torres, PhD

Project Title: Characterizing novel cell division phosphatase DUSP12 and its misregulation in cancers.

Serendipity Zapanta Rinonos, MD, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Albert Lai, MD, PhD

Project Title: Targeted DNA Methylation Editing as a Therapeutic Strategy for Gliomas

2020 Awardees

Jordan Cheng (Graduate Student)

Mentor: David Wong, DMD, DMSc

Project Title: Characterization of novel ultrashort single-stranded circulating tumor DNA (usssctDNA) for Lung Cancer Liquid Biopsy

Zhaohuan Zhang (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Holden Wu, PhD

Project Title: Characterization of Prostate Cancer Tissue Heterogeneity Using Voxel-wise Co-Registered Quantitative MRI and Digital Histopathology

Albert Han, MD, PhD (Resident)

Mentor: Maie St.John, MD, PhD

Project Title: Tumor immune microenvironment in HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer

Kunal Patel, MD (Resident)

Mentor: Harley Kornblum MD PhD

Project Title: Characterization and targeting of non-enhancing glioblastoma cells with pH based functional imaging.

Andrei Gafita, MD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Jeremie Calais, MD, MSc

Project Title: Evaluation of novel PSMA PET/CT imaging quantitative tool to improve patient selection and therapeutic outcome of PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy

Karolina Kaczar-Urbanowicz, DMD, MsC, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: David Wong, DMD, DMSc

Project Title: Development of machine learning approach for non-invasive identification of microbial exRNA signatures for early detection of gastric cancer in human saliva

Sixue Liu, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Roger Lo, MD, PhD

Project Title: Therapeutic Combinations against Melanoma Brain Metastases

2019 Awardees

Alex Lam (Graduate Student)

Mentor: Ting-Ting Wu, PhD

Project Title: Virus-like Vesicles as a Vaccine Platform for Kaposi Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus

Narissa Nonzee, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Beth Glenn, PhD

Project Title: Repeat Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Federally Qualified Health Center

Kelly E. Rentscher, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Judith Carroll, PhD

Project Title: Accelerated Aging in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Survivors

Zhentao Yang, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Mentor: Roger Lo, MD, PhD

Project Title: A novel PD-L1/L2 and HLA class I interaction that regulates PD-1 binding and T cell activation