Evanna Mills and Brenda Nakagaki will join Biomedical Sciences programs at the Pew Charitable Trusts – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute shared a post on LinkedIn:

”Evanna Mills and Brenda Nakagaki have been selected to join Biomedical Sciences programs at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Mills is one of 22 early career scientists to be invited into this year’s Pew Scholars Program while Nakagaki is one of 10 postdoctoral fellows from six Latin American countries selected to join the 2024 class of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program.

As a current Pew Scholar, Mills will meet annually with Pew-funded scientists to build connections and exchange ideas across disciplines. Scholars were chosen from 198 applicants who were nominated by leading academic institutions and researchers across the country. Her research for the program will explore processes that control the function of macrophages, or crucial immune cells that can cause harmful inflammation.

‘Support from the Pew Charitable Trust at this early stage of my career is pivotal to the success of my research program,’shares Mills, the principal investigator of the Mills Lab at Dana-Farber. ‘I am delighted to be selected as a member of the 2024 Pew Biomedical Sciences Scholars class. I am also immensely proud to say that Brenda, a postdoctoral researcher in my lab, was also selected for the Pew Latin American Fellows Program.’

As a fellow, Nakagaki will investigate how the metabolic dysfunction that accompanies obesity caused by diet can trigger inflammation in different cells and tissues.

‘I’m deeply honored to be named as a Pew Latin American Fellow,’ remarks Nakagaki. ‘This recognition is incredibly meaningful and will not only support my work, but it will also give me the opportunity to exchange knowledge and collaborate with esteemed colleagues and experts of this vibrant scientific community.’

Fellows in the Latin American program receive two years of funding to conduct research in labs across the United States. They will also receive mentorship from prominent biomedical scientists, including alumni from the Latin American Fellows Program and the Pew Scholars Program.”

Source: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/LinkedIn

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a leading institution for cancer treatment and research. It was founded by Sidney Farber on 1947. Currently, the Institute has over 5,000 staff, faculty, and clinicians on board. They manage in excess of 640,000 outpatient visits each year, oversee more than 1,000 hospital discharges annually, and are actively involved in over 1,100 ongoing clinical trials.

As of 2023, Dana-Farber is ranked as the #4 cancer hospital globally. Dana-Farber’s research contributions include the development of Gleevec, a highly successful treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia.

Evanna Mills is an Assistant Professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at GSK. She carried out her PhD in Prof Luke O’Neill’s lab in Trinity College Biomedical Sciences Institute.

Brenda Nakagaki is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She completed her PhD from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. She completed her internship from Brigham and Women’s Hospital.