Arjun Kumar, a Ph.D. student at UW Bioengineering, has been named one of the inaugural recipients of the Pfizer Oncology Fellowship. The new two-year fellowship, financially supported by Pfizer and administered through the UW School of Medicine Office of Research & Graduate Education and the Fred Hutch Cancer Center Office of Education & Training, provides funding and professional development opportunities for promising Ph.D. students pursuing cancer-related research.
Kumar conducts his research in the lab of Hao Yuan Kueh, an associate professor of bioengineering, where he studies the mechanisms of T-cell exhaustion—a condition that occurs when T-cells are chronically exposed to antigens, such cancers or persistent infections. Over time, these T-cells become less effective, showing reduced ability to fight disease and increased expression of molecules that suppress their activity.
The Pfizer Oncology Fellowship Program supports two outstanding predoctoral trainees each year with full stipend, benefits and tuition funding during their third and fourth years of graduate training. Fellows also gain access to mentorship and collaboration opportunities through round table discussions with experts at Pfizer Oncology. “Regular engagement with the Pfizer Oncology team will enable us to thoughtfully translate our work toward patients and extend it to additional treatment formats where Pfizer Oncology has deep expertise,” Kumar notes.
Born and raised in Seattle, Kumar was first introduced to science through outreach programs at UW, Fred Hutch and Seattle Children’s. After spending time in the Bay Area for college and work, he chose to return to UW for graduate school. “I was motivated to return to UW for my Ph.D. thanks to the Seattle scientific community’s commitment to patients and public health,” he says. “I’m interested in immunotherapies and have been inspired by how UW-affiliated faculty and companies have made major contributions in this field.”
