Young Investigator Award
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce that the winners of the Cancers 2022 Young Investigator Award are Dr. Ashleigh Poh and Dr. Miranda Fidler-Benaoudia.
Dr. Ashleigh Poh is an early career post-doctoral research fellow at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Australia. She received her PhD in 2017. Her work focuses on therapeutic approaches to re-invigorate anti-tumour immunity by reprogramming immunosuppressive myeloid cells towards an immune-stimulatory endotype. Dr. Ashleigh Poh’s research was the first to identify a tumour cell-extrinsic role for the myeloid-specific kinase HCK in solid cancers by enhancing the polarization of immunosuppressive ‘alternatively activated’ macrophages. These discoveries have leveraged major industry partnerships to develop small molecule HCK inhibitors for clinical use. Dr. Ashleigh Poh independently secured >$1.5m in competitive funding as a principal investigator. Her ability to generate highquality research is also evidenced by her winning 20 awards and giving 30 invited presentations.
Dr. Miranda Fidler-Benaoudia is a Cancer Epidemiologist/Research Scientist at Alberta Health Services, Canada and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary, Canada. Her research focuses on understanding the magnitude of the late affects among survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer and developing tertiary prevention interventions to mitigate cancer- and treatment-related sequalae. She is additionally interested in sub-populations, such as indigenous peoples, and she undertakes research comprehensively to decribe cancer indicators nationally, regionally, and globally. Prior to her current positions, she received her PhD at the University of Birmingham, UK, in 2015 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, France, from 2015 to 2018. She has made significant contributions to the field of oncology as a young investigator, with 44 peer-reviewed publications, 4 invited oral presentations, and 34 oral/poster presentations, as well as numerous memberships on editorial boards and national committees.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ashleigh Poh and Dr. Miranda Fidler-Benaoudia for their outstanding achievements.
As the awardees, each of them will receive an honorarium of CHF 2000, an electronic certificate, an offer to publish a paper free of charge before the end of 2023 in Cancers after peer review.
We would like to thank all those who nominated a candidate from various fields of study for their participation and all the Award Committee Members for their evaluation of the many excellent nominees.
Cancers 2022 Young Investigator Evaluation Committee
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