Cancer Research Night and Poster Session

The Cancer Center hosts an annual celebration of cancer research in February, including an abstract competition and a poster session. This event draws posters from students, trainees, and faculty from many academic departments and disciplines. Prizes are awarded for the best-scored abstract entries in several categories: graduate and medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and clinical residents, and fellows.  

2026 Cancer Research Night and Poster Session 

Medical or Graduate Student Category: 

Taylor Koch, Cancer Biology
Mentor: Derek Wainwright, PhD 
“IDO1 PROTAC improves survival against human glioblastoma” 

Clinical Resident or Fellow Category: 

Issac Lasko, MD, Radiation Oncology
Mentor: Matthew Harkenrider, MD 
“Multi-Institutional Analysis of the Target Volumes and Disease Outcomes in MRI-based Brachytherapy for Medically Inoperable Endometrial Cancer” 

Research Associate or Postdoctoral Fellow Category: 

Ha Nguyen, PhD, Radiation Oncology
Mentor: John Roeske, PhD 
“Evaluation of the Reliability of Markerless Tumor Tracking with Single-Energy and Dual-Energy Imaging Using Machine Learning”

2025 Cancer Research Night and Poster Session Winners 

Medical or Graduate Student Category (two winners): 

Quin McLaughlin, Medicine
Mentor: Nan Sethakorn, MD, PhD
"Investigating the Effect of Osteoclasts on Tumor Survival and Drug Resistance Utilizing 3D Tumor Microenvironments"

Kristen Young, Cancer Biology
Mentor: Sean Fanning, PhD
“Interrogating Immune Evasion Factors in Luminal Drug-Resistant Breast Cancers”

Clinical Resident or Fellow Category: 

Madeleine Uelk, MD, Hematology/Oncology
Mentor: Patrick Hagen, MD
“Racial Discrepancies in Clinical Outcomes of Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma”

Research Associate or Postdoctoral Fellow Category: 

Alexander Pohlman, MD, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
Mentor: Zaid Abdelsattar, MD
"Minimally Invasive Total vs Partial Thymectomy for Early Stage Thymoma”