Date Posted
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) is pleased to announce the 2025 cohort of the DCP Early Career Scientist Spotlight Research Seminar Series. These nine investigators are advancing research within prevention, detection, and symptom science and will be featured in a series of public seminars intended to highlight their work in these important research areas.
The 2025 cohort of DCP Early Career Scientists includes:
Armen Byrd, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Member of the Departments of Cancer Epidemiology and Gastrointestinal Oncology at Moffit Cancer Center
Dr. Byrd’s research focuses on interrelations among diet, gut microbiome, microbiome-related metabolites, and cancer risk and progression. The ultimate goal of her research is to contribute to the reduction of cancer disparities.
Xiaoshuang Feng, Ph.D.
Scientist, Cancer Epidemiology Branch at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization.
Dr. Feng’s research focuses on cancer risk assessment and early detection. The ultimate goal of this research is to optimize cancer screening strategies including multi-cancer detection and lung cancer risk prediction models and markers.
Rina S. Fox, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing
Dr. Fox’s research focuses on understanding and improving sleep health in people with cancer and on addressing the unique psychosocial needs of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop behavioral interventions to decrease symptom burden and improve health-related quality of life.
Atieh Hajirahimkhan, Ph.D.
NCI NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Surgery, Lurie Cancer Center Translational Bridge Fellow, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University
Dr. Hajirahimkhan’s research focuses on agent development for breast cancer prevention. The ultimate goal of her research is to achieve interventional breast cancer risk reduction through reversing oncogenic metabolism and inflammation in breast tissue of women at increased risk, with minimal side effects.
Alexandra Harris, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
Dr. Harris’ work focuses on how social, environmental, and genetic factors modulate breast tissue and its microenvironment. The ultimate goal of her research is to help reduce health disparities in breast cancer risk and outcomes in women of African descent.
Laura Oswald, Ph.D.
Assistant Member of the Department of HealthOutcomes and Behavior at Moffit Cancer Center
Dr. Oswald’s work focuses on patient-reported outcomes addressing symptom burden and elucidation of biological mechanisms of supportive care intervention efficacy. The ultimate goal of her research is to improve cancer survivorship outcomes among novel and underrepresented populations.
Mary Luz Rol, Ph.D.
Scientist in the Early Detection, Prevention, and Infections Branch of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization
Dr. Rol’s work focuses on eliminating cervical cancer as a public health priority (EASTER project), and helping countries collect and use cancer screening data (CanScreen5 project). The ultimate goal of her research is to improve equal access to high-quality healthcare.
Mina Sedrak, M.D., M.S.
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Cancer and Aging Program, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles
Dr. Sedrak’s work focuses on investigating the mechanism behind cancer treatment-induced accelerated aging. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop innovative therapies to prevent or reverse this accelerated aging induced by cancer.
Christine Wang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Koch Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Wang’s work focuses on developing synthetic biomarkers for screening lung cancer in an exhaled breath. The ultimate goal of her research is to integrate engineering and medicine to tackle critical health challenges.
The 2025 Seminar Series is the second year of the program. Beyond presenting their research in a webinar, the invited speakers, all DCP Early Career Scientists, will have the opportunity to interact with NCI staff involved in cancer prevention research. While the overall goal of the series is to increase visibility and provide recognition to the DCP Early Career Scientists, these research seminars, alongside interactions with the cancer prevention research community at NCI, will also promote the acceleration of progress and innovation in cancer prevention.
More information on the speakers, topics, and series schedule will be available soon. Please email NCIDCPworkforce@mail.nih.gov if you have any questions about the series, especially if you would like to contact a speaker after their research talk, you want to be considered for a meeting with a speaker on the day of their talk, or if you are having trouble finding when and how to attend a seminar.