Sarah E. Siegrist, PhD, with her sponsor Iswar K. Hariharan, MBBS, PhD, at the University of California, Berkeley, California, is uncovering novel genes that control cell growth and neurogenesis in the adult brain - key processes for understanding the origins of brain cancers.

Karsten H. Siller, PhD, with his sponsor Lu Chen, PhD, at the University of California, Berkeley, California, is using simple genetic systems to investigate how molecules that are mis-regulated in cancer act to control neuron to neuron signaling.

Tao Wang, PhD, with his sponsor Bruce A. Edgar, PhD, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, is using fruit flies, a powerful genetic system, to flesh out new genes involved in the TOR pathway, a critical regulator of growth and survival in a number of cancers.

Kathryn E. Wellen, PhD, with her sponsor Craig B. Thompson, MD, at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is designing new cell and mouse model systems of leukemia and glioblastoma to investigate the relationship between cellular energy production, growth and survival.

Yu Wong, MD, PhD, with his sponsor Mark M. Davis, PhD, at Stanford University, Stanford, California, is developing a novel method to monitor the immune system in breast cancer patients with the goal of designing a targeted immunotherapy.