SEATTLE — April 2, 2025 — Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch Cancer Center research findings, patient stories and other news.
If you’re covering the annual meeting for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) from April 25-30 in Chicago, IL, connect with our media team at media@fredhutch.org.
April is the awareness month for esophageal, testicular and head and neck cancers. Reach out to media@fredhutch.org if you’re looking for experts.
Nutrition and wellness
37 years of nourishing care
Registered dietitian Paula Charuhas Macris, MS, RD, was one of nine dietitians working exclusively with bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients at Fred Hutch in the early days of the Nobel Prize-winning treatment. Throughout her 37-year career, she’s used nutrition to bolster strength and resilience in patients. Charuhas Macris currently supervises Medical Nutrition Therapy Services, where she works with adult allogeneic (donor cell) transplant, long-term follow-up transplant and survivorship clinic patients. Patients can contact the service at any time for support, even after they’ve finished treatment.
Media contact: Kat Wynn, kwynn@fredhutch.org
‘You don’t need to be an artist to participate in art therapy’
Clinical social worker Israt Audry, MSW, LICSW, is Fred Hutch’s first art-based therapy provider, bringing a transformative approach to patient care through the healing power of art. The pilot program builds on research that art therapy improves symptoms of depression and anxiety and provides a space for patients in both individual sessions and support groups. Audry works with patients in Fred Hutch’s blood and marrow transplant and immunotherapy clinics.
Media contact: Kat Wynn, kwynn@fredhutch.org
Clinical care
Physician assistant cares for colon cancer patients — then she became one
Bekah Kooy was diagnosed with colon medullary carcinoma at 38 years old, despite following a healthy lifestyle and having no genetic factors. Fred Hutch providers Stacey Cohen, MD, and Mara Roth, MD, utilized immunotherapy for treatment and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) biomarkers to monitor Kooy’s chance of recurrence. Rates of colon cancer are rising in young people, and Rachel Issaka, MD, MAS, advises getting screened and adjusting lifestyle-related risk factors. Issaka holds the Kathryn Surace-Smith Endowed Chair in Health Equity Research.
Media contact: Claire Hudson, crhudson@fredhutch.org
Awards and recognition
Fred Hutch announces 10 recipients of the 2025 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award
Fred Hutch announced the recipients of the annual Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award. Named for molecular biologist Harold “Hal” Weintraub, MD, PhD, the annual award celebrates the exceptional achievements of graduate students in biological science. Jeremy Hollis, a graduate research assistant in the Campbell Lab at Fred Hutch, is one of 10 awardees. His research examines a historic protein component implicated in a variety of diseases and disorders and will provide a foundational understanding of cellular evolution.
Media contact: Shayla Ring, sring@fredhutch.org
Drs. Keith Jerome and Jesse Bloom elected fellows of American Academy of Microbiology
Virologist Keith Jerome, MD, PhD, and evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom, PhD, were elected to the American Academy of Microbiology’s 2025 class of fellows. Jerome’s work studies the viruses causing chronic, incurable infections — like herpes simplex virus (HSV) — and the potential for gene therapy to cure them. Bloom examines the mutation of genes and proteins and how they shape fast-evolving viruses such as influenza and COVID-19.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Science spotlight
Science Spotlight is a monthly installment of articles written by postdoctoral fellows that summarizes new research papers from Fred Hutch scientists. If you’re interested in learning more or covering these topics, contact media@fredhutch.org
- Research at any cost?
- Now you see them, now you don’t: Gene editing protects stem cells from CAR T therapy
- More than a fertility struggle? Infertility’s tie to ovarian cancer risk
- Breaking down barriers to clinical trial participation for people living with HIV
- How a century-old policy still shapes cancer survival today
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Fred Hutch Cancer Center unites individualized care and advanced research to provide the latest cancer treatment options while accelerating discoveries that prevent, treat and cure cancer and infectious diseases worldwide.
Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy, HIV/AIDS prevention and COVID-19 vaccines. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.