Program Spotlight

The 2018 Trans-Fellowship Research Award (TFRA) recipients are Drs. Joseph Shearer and Erik Willis. This award is specific to the CPFP, and only fellows can serve as Principal Investigators.  The TFRA is a competitive, one-year research award that is meant to foster creative team science approaches to advance the field of cancer prevention, while leveraging the unique diversity of CPFP fellows' scientific backgrounds.

They were awarded $15,000 for their project Physical activity and adiposity risk factors for the development of multiple myeloma in the UK biobank.

Dr. Shearer is a molecular epidemiologist, and Dr. Willis is an exercise physiologist by training. When asked why they decided to collaborate, Dr. Shearer noted, "We both shared a common research interest of studying modifiable risk factors such as obesity, but we approached it differently. The TFRA experience exemplifies the collaborative nature of the CPFP and provides the freedom to develop multidisciplinary projects that we might not have had the opportunity to explore in a traditional postdoctoral setting."

Dr. Tamara Litwin is one of the recipients of the 2018 NCI Director's Intramural Innovation Award. This distinguished award is designed to support the development of highly innovative and novel approaches and technology aimed at significant cancer-related problems. The program offers one-time Career Development Awards that are targeted to postdoctoral fellows, staff scientists, and staff clinicians at all levels.  Dr. Litwin received $10,000 for her proposal, entitled Evaluation of Biomarkers for in-vivo Imaging-Based Detection of Cervical Precancers in Low-Resource Settings. Dr. Litwin commented, "The M.P.H. obtained as part of the CPFP was critical for me to conduct this type of research and allowed me to frame the research questions."