image: Dr. Anna Nam
Credit: Weill Cornell Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine faculty member Dr. Anna Nam and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Maria Cecilia Lira have been chosen to join the 2025 class of Pew scholars and fellows.
Dr. Nam, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been selected as a 2025 Pew-Stewart Scholar for Cancer Research. Now in its 12th year, the award, emanating from a partnership between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust, supports early career scientists with a four-year, $300,000 grant to conduct innovative research projects spanning cancer development, diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Nam studies the mechanisms behind some of the most complex cancer types.
“I feel very grateful to be named among the Pew-Stewart Scholars,” said Dr. Nam, who is also a member of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. “It’s a tremendous honor.”
One of five early-career scientists selected by the program, Dr. Nam is currently investigating the genetic determinants that influence the clinical manifestations of Hodgkin lymphoma in contrast to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, two major classes of blood cancer. She said the support from Pew-Stewart will be critical to better understanding what differentiates Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“Despite being driven by a similar set of cancer mutations as other types of lymphomas, Hodgkin lymphomas have a very distinct clinical and biological phenotype. Our data suggest that these B-cell derived lymphoma cells may be adopting neural cell features to gain fitness advantage and control of the tumor ecosystem,” said Dr. Nam. “We’re trying to understand both the mechanisms underlying the neural reprogramming and the functional consequences of it.” Ultimately, she hopes to develop novel therapies for Hodgkin lymphoma.
Dr. Maria Cecilia Lira, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Claire Vanpouille-Box, has been selected as a 2025 Pew Latin American Fellow in the Biomedical Sciences. The program supports young scientists from Latin America in receiving postdoctoral training at institutions in the United States, providing them the opportunity to further their scientific knowledge by promoting exchange and collaboration between investigators in the U.S. and Latin America.
Originally from Argentina, Dr. Lira and earned her doctorate in biological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires. She is one of 10 postdoctoral fellows selected for the Pew Latin American fellows program. Awardees receive $60,000 over two years and additional funding is available for recipients to start labs in their home country.
“I’m very excited about this because I’ll be able to not only train here in the U.S., but also maybe in the future go back to Argentina and establish myself as an independent principal investigator, which is my ultimate goal,” said Dr. Lira.
Dr. Lira is studying how brain tumors called glioblastomas evolve to resist therapy and hopes to continue developing patented treatment options, having already achieved one preliminary patent. Her research aims to combine radiation therapy with an immune checkpoint inhibitor and a blocker of fatty acid synthesis, which tumors depend on for growth and proliferation.
Dr. Lira said she has benefitted greatly from Dr. Vanpouille-Box’s mentoring.
“Dr. Vanpouille-Box has been a great mentor; she has a good balance between mentoring and giving you the space you need to do your own research,” Dr. Lira said.