Sydney Shaffer, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and of Bioengineering, is one of this year's recipients of the NIH Director's Early Independence Award. She is receiving the award up to $1,250,000 as part of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, which supports outstanding junior scientists with the intellect, scientific creativity, drive, and maturity to bypass the traditional postdoctoral training period in order to launch independent research careers. Building on her previous work in melanoma, Dr. Shaffer's research will focus on rare resistant or invasive cancer cells and using new ways to illuminate RNA signatures in those cells. This research has the potential to lead to novel treatments of these highly-dangerous cancer cells.
Read the Penn Medicine news release