Half a world apart from each other, two young women chased their dreams: Abir Arfaoui, in Tunisia, was studying biology, determined to pursue a career in science despite her family’s limited financial means. Gabriele “Gabe” Grunewald, in the U.S., was running professionally while undergoing cycles of treatment for an aggressive, rare cancer.
Their paths crossed this month, two years after Grunewald’s death from her adenoid cystic carcinoma.
Arfaoui, now a postdoctoral researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, was announced today as the second recipient of the Brave Fellowship at Fred Hutch, funded by the Brave Like Gabe Foundation, and a donation from Brooks Running on behalf of the foundation. Brooks, a Seattle-based running company, honors Grunewald, a Brooks athlete, with its Brave Like Gabe collection.
The new fellowship will fund Arfaoui’s research in the lab of Dr. Taran Gujral on a rare liver cancer called fibrolamellar carcinoma, or FLC. FLC is resistant to most chemotherapies, even drugs that target other forms of liver cancer. It kills nearly one out of three of the young people it typically strikes within five years after diagnosis.
Arfaoui aims to change that.
We talked with her about her research, her path into science and what it means to her to be the latest Brave Fellow. We’ve edited this transcript lightly for clarity.
