Fred Hutch

During his 36-year career at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Michael Emerman, PhD, made fundamental discoveries about HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. He and Fred Hutch evolutionary biologist Harmit Malik, PhD, made a new field of research — paleovirology — which traces the effects of evolutionary battles with ancient pathogens that have shaped our modern, innate immune systems. But above all, Emerman made scientists — generations of graduate students who took his popular virology course as well as the graduate students and postdoctoral researchers he mentored in the lab, helping them find their way in science and in life. Read more: https://bit.ly/4nMqOmr

Fred Hutch Cancer Center is leading the newly launched Vanguard Study, a national study of a new type of blood test that screens for several different cancers called multi-cancer detection (MCD) tests. Researchers will evaluate whether these blood tests will help people ages 45 to 75 find cancer early when it may be easier to treat. This is the first study of the Cancer Screening Research Network (CSRN), a nationwide network that will run trials aimed at improving cancer screening that is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. Fred Hutch serves as the Coordinating and Communications Center as well as the Statistics and Data Management Center. https://bit.ly/4lTKpPV

Applications for Fred Hutch’s Blood and Marrow Transplant/Immunotherapy Fellowship are now open! This fellowship offers aspiring specialists the chance to train alongside world-renowned experts at the place where modern transplant and immunotherapy began. Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/gDNEsNmH

SxAffold is a new initiative designed to spark collaboration between scientists and artists. This program brought together a group of artists working across various media for a fully funded, week-long workshop at Fred Hutch sponsored by Brotman Baty. During this time, artist Ranger Liu teamed up with Zachary Amador, a Ph.D. candidate in the Sudarshan Pinglay lab at the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology. “I see science as physical craftsmanship,” said Liu, who is also studying toward a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the UW. “I’ve watched him unscrewing test tubes one-handed, with a pipette in the other, then lifting the pipette and controlling the plunger with his thumb. For Zach, all these techniques become second nature. But to me, it’s a finely choreographed motion.” “It’s interesting to take a lot of these procedures I have learned over the years and teach them to Ranger as I am actually doing them,” Amador said. “These are steps I do constantly, over and over again – and then over and over again. It’s really the story of the stuff I have learned in the lab.” Read the full story from Brotman Baty Institute: https://lnkd.in/g-6YWtZ2

Did you know Fred Hutch is home to the largest women’s health study ever conducted on the planet? The Women’s Health Initiative changed the game for women over 50, revealing crucial insights into heart disease, cancer, bone health and hormone therapy. With more than 2,400 studies published and $37.1 billion in economic return, it’s still going strong with 42,000 active participants. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4nHOJn2

For years, people have been taught to pay attention to three little letters that are supposed to tell them exactly how healthy they are — or aren’t. BMI, also known as body mass index. Unfortunately, BMI doesn’t tell the whole story and may not even be as valuable as once thought, especially when it comes to determining what kind of a risk obesity poses to any one person. Previous research shows that peoples’ waistlines are growing over time — even faster than their overall weight. Unfortunately, this deep belly fat is the kind most strongly linked to serious health problems. “BMI is a somewhat crude measure of obesity,” said Fred Hutch Cancer Center biostatistician and Women’s Health Initiative principal investigator Garnet Anderson, PhD, who collaborated with other Fred Hutch researchers on the new study. “We can do a better job of figuring out who is at risk for mortality by adding one measure that’s generalizable and that any physician could do in their office. Even better, it’s very cheap and there’s no risk.” What is that one measure and how do you collect it? It’s simple: grab a tape measure, wrap it around your waist and note the number. Waist circumference, the researchers found, when combined with BMI, can tell you — and more importantly your physician — much more about your health than BMI alone. It can even predict your risk of dying. Read more: https://bit.ly/44xTvL6

One of the most important parts of a doctor's appointment is documentation. But chronicling every point discussed can take valuable time away from one-on-one interaction between patient and provider. Now a new AI application, Abridge, is helping physicians at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and UW Medicine streamline the arduous task of clinical note-taking. Twenty Fred Hutch providers are using the Abridge technology along with 20 providers who are part of a control group documenting the visit via computer, tapping away as a patient speaks. Read more: https://bit.ly/4eF5L0T

An estimated 86 billion neurons in the average human brain govern our body’s functions and conjure — somehow — the human mind. To better understand how those billions of cells talk to each other across a vast network comprising trillions of connections, researchers study the nervous system of a tiny worm called Caenorhabditis elegans, an organism that shares many features with human biology and has yielded insights leading to Nobel prizes. While scientists have previously charted over 302 neurons in C. elegans, those maps leave out glial cells — the other major cell type of the nervous systems of both worms and humans. In a study published recently in the journal Developmental Cell, researchers at Fred Hutch present an atlas of gene expression in C. elegans glial cells, including differences across sexes, that fills in the gaps and makes some scientific history. Read more: https://bit.ly/4lHq3JH

Meet Sarika Karra, our newest administrative fellow! Sarika recently earned her Master of Public Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she concentrated in health policy and management and comparative effectiveness outcomes research. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Washington and spent last summer as an administrative intern at UCLA Health, where she explored the intersection of strategic marketing, operations and patient access within an academic medical center. Sarika chose Fred Hutch for her administrative fellowship because of its mission-driven approach to health care and its commitment to advancing research-based cancer care. She was drawn to the organization’s focus on scientific innovation, compassion and the integration of public health principles into care delivery. She is excited to return to Seattle and collaborate with a team that shares her commitment to improving health care systems. She sees this fellowship as a meaningful step in her journey toward leadership in health care. Applications for our 2026-2028 Administrative Fellowship cycle are now open and due by August 25! Learn more: https://bit.ly/45UveRM

When donors go all in, the magic begins. The ALDARRA FOUNDATION achieved maximum impact at Fred Hutch and beyond by giving boldly. Their support has fueled over 10 Fred Hutch projects — from FLASH radiation to immunotherapy breakthroughs. https://bit.ly/4lfa71v