SEATTLE — Sept. 3, 2025 — Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch Cancer Center research findings, patient stories and other news.
September marks prostate cancer awareness month, gynecologic cancer awareness month and blood cancer awareness month. If you’re working on stories related to these diseases, please reach out to media@fredhutch.org.
Patient care
Biomarkers, tumor markers and tumor boards: What cancer patients need to know
Since her initial breast cancer diagnosis 30 years ago, nurse and patient advocate Ginny Mason has witnessed a lot of changes in the ways cancer is diagnosed and treated. At Fred Hutch, our doctors and researchers have been at the center of these changes. To help educate patients, Natasha Hunter, MD and Gabriela Chiorean, MD break down the different terms used in cancer diagnosis and treatment, how they personalize patient care and what new research is telling us about what’s next on the horizon.
Media contact: Heather Platisha, hplatisha@fredhutch.org
Cancer research
Looking beyond suspect genes in cancer
Fred Hutch is one of 10 institutions in the U.S., U.K. and Europe analyzing over 20,000 protein-coding genes to better understand their role in cancer. According to Nature, the 2022 Molecular Phenotypes of Null Alleles in Cells (MorPhiC) project will create a public catalog of the functions of all 20,319 genes by isolating each one to determine its impact on the cell. Fred Hutch serves as a data validation center for MorPhiC, co-led by Wei Sun, PhD and Li Hsu, PhD.
Media contact: Kat Wynn, kwynn@fredhutch.org
Science education
School’s IN for summer
Fred Hutch’s Science Education Outreach (SciEd) program oversees more than a dozen educational programs each year. Their work connects teachers and graduate and undergraduate students to professional development and biomedical science opportunities. A new story highlights the nearly 300 students and teachers who participated in SciEd programming and the grand opening of the leading-edge Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Learning Lab.
Media contact: Shayla Ring, sring@fredhutch.org
Awards and endowments
From dream to legacy: Couple accelerates lung cancer research
David MacPherson, PhD, is the inaugural recipient of the Vinh Bui and Tram Le Endowed Chair for Lung Cancer. MacPherson and his lab are studying cancer biology to develop targeted treatments for patients with the rare and highly aggressive small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Funding from the chair will allow the team to move faster on discoveries that could change the treatment landscape for SCLC.
Media contact: Heather Platisha, hplatisha@fredhutch.org
Fred Hutch computational biologist recognized by The Pew Charitable Trusts
Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong, PhD, is one of 22 scientists in the U.S. to receive a 4-year, $300,000 2025 grant from the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. Sinnott-Armstrong will use the funding to develop an AI platform alongside laboratory experiments to evaluate new treatments and drug candidates against Lyme disease, a common yet under-researched disease.
Media contact: Kat Wynn, kwynn@fredhutch.org
Gratitude for lifesaving care at Fred Hutch leads to endowed chair
In 1987, Mike Rubin, who currently serves as Fred Hutch’s senior director of philanthropic gifts, received a bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. Rubin’s father, Milton Rubin, created the Milton B. Rubin Family Endowed Chair in 2020 to support the organization’s life-saving research. Madhav Dhodapkar, MBBS, the scientific director of Fred Hutch’s Multiple Myeloma Program, is the newest recipient of the chair and will use the award to pursue a cure for multiple myeloma.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Two lifetimes’ worth of bone marrow transplant breakthroughs
After nearly 60 years at Fred Hutch, bone marrow transplant (BMT) pioneer Rainer Storb, MD is retiring. Throughout his career, Storb worked with E. Donnall Thomas, MD, to develop the Nobel-prize winning BMT treatment and mentored over 160 trainees from across the world. Storb will receive the 2025 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology from the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in December. He was the inaugural holder of the Milton B. Rubin Family Endowed Chair.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Science spotlight
Science Spotlight is a monthly installment of articles written by postdoctoral fellows that summarizes new research papers from Fred Hutch scientists. If you’re interested in learning more or covering these topics, contact media@fredhutch.org
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Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Fred Hutch Cancer Center unites individualized care and advanced research to provide the latest cancer treatment options while accelerating discoveries that prevent, treat and cure cancer and infectious diseases worldwide.
Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy, HIV/AIDS prevention and COVID-19 vaccines. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.