CANCER’S LEADING THINKERS. TOGETHER IN ONE ROOM. THE 2026 FALL FORBECK SCHOLARS
EVOLUTION & MODELING OF CANCER GENETIC NETWORKS AND CELL STATES
UTHSAV CHITRA, PHD Johns Hopkins University SPONSOR: JULIE & JASON HECKSEL
XIN GU Dana-Farber Cancer Institute SPONSOR: ALLISON & ROBERT WINDON Xin studies how cancer cells control important proteins that help them grow and survive. Her research could lead to new treatments for multiple myeloma by targeting the systems cancer cells rely on to thrive.
Uthsav develops artificial intelligence and computer tools to uncover hidden patterns in cancer. His research helps scientists better understand how cancer develops and changes over time, paving the way for more personalized treatments.
NUCLEAR CONDENSATES IN CANCER
MATTHEW KING Dana-Farber Cancer Institute SPONSOR: ANNE BRUNK
TIZIANO BERNASOCCHI, PHD Mass. General Hospital Cancer Center SPONSOR: BIG FOOT LIONS CLUB
Matthew studies how cells organize and control their genetic material. By understanding how these systems break down in cancer, he hopes to identify new ways to stop the disease.
Tiziano investigates how cancer cells change the way they use nutrients to survive, spread, and adapt. His goal is to uncover new weaknesses in pancreatic cancer that could lead to more effective treatments.
NEXT GENERATION MODELS OF CANCER
MIRANDA HUNTER, PHD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center SPONSOR: DAVID & DORCAS COLLINS Miranda studies how the physical environment around tumors influences cancer growth and spread. By creating innovative new research models, she hopes to identify better ways to treat aggressive cancers like pancreatic cancer.
SOUNAK SAHU, PHD NYU Grossman School of Medicine SPONSOR: KIM & JEFF RATHMELL
Sounak studies how inherited genetic differences affect cancer risk and treatment. His work uses advanced laboratory models to help doctors better predict which treatments will work best for each patient.
WHERE SCHOLARS GO NEXT The Forbeck Scholar Award is designed as a beginning, not a finish line. Awardees attend their assigned Forum and then three years of Scholar Retreats alongside senior investigators, building the kind of relationships and habits of thought that shape a career long after the meetings end. Some of that impact is easy to trace. Ned Sharpless, MD, and Tony Letai, MD, PhD, Forbeck Scholars in 2003 and 2004, both went on to serve as Director of the National Cancer Institute, leading the nation’s cancer research agenda at its highest level. Kim Rathmell, MD, PhD, the Foundation’s current Scientific Advisory Board Chair, was also a Forbeck Scholar and went on to serve as the NCI’s 17th Director, meaning three of the last four NCI Directors have deep ties to the Forbeck Foundation. THE PATTERN KEEPS SHOWING UP IN MORE RECENT CLASSES, TOO. Joelle Straehla, MD, a 2023 Forbeck Scholar, built her own lab at MIT’s Koch Institute studying nanomedicine for pediatric brain tumors, earned a 2023 Burroughs Wellcome Career Award, and now leads her research program at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington. Pippa Cosper, MD, PhD, a 2021 Scholar, has grown from fellow to Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she runs her own lab studying radiation sensitivity in HPV-driven cancers and recently earned a Research Scholar Grant from the Radiological Society of North America. Most Scholars won’t run the NCI, but the same pattern holds across the community: a Scholar year becomes a lab, a Scholar’s mentor becomes a collaborator, and the conversations started at a Forum keep going for decades. IT’S WHY THE FOUNDATION KEEPS CHOOSING NEW SCHOLARS EVERY YEAR — NOT KNOWING EXACTLY WHERE THEY’LL END UP, ONLY THAT THE FORBECK YEARS TEND TO MATTER.
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