HHMT travelling fellows: Kate Chiappinelli
What is a travelling fellow?
A travelling fellow is an early-career researcher who gets the opportunity to travel and learn at the HHMT international Forum, funded by the charity.
The purpose of being a travelling fellow is to gain new skills, meet experts, and explore different ideas. This helps them grow in their field and open the door to new opportunities for ideation and collaboration.
Katherine Chiappinelli
Katherine Chiappinelli
Professor Katherine Chiappinelli is an assistant professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Her team at the Chiappinelli laboratory studies how genetics influence in cancer and how looking at changes DNA can better inform treatments.
Kate attended the Ovarian Cancer Action HHMT Forum in 2015 in Spain and says that the meeting was transformative for her career.
Kate had access to the top ovarian cancer researchers in the world and had the opportunity to connect with them and speak about her own research.
She recalls that the meeting had a collaborative feel, with no competitiveness, and the senior researchers were all friendly and helpful.
Katherine with 2015 Travelling Fellows
“When I was selected to be an HHMT Travelling Fellow for the 2015 meeting, it was a transformative opportunity for me.
I had a background in cancer epigenetics but my data generated during my postdoctoral work with Steve Baylin had led me to some tumor immunology experiments to fully understand the phenotype we observed.
I had read a lot of literature on the ovarian cancer tumor microenvironment and was thrilled to meet distinguished immunologists including Dan Powell, George Coukos, and Brad Nelson at the HHMT meeting. I was fortunate to receive feedback on our work from these scientists and our interactions led to collaborations with both Brad Nelson and Dan Powell.
Indeed, Dan and I have a funded grant together where he is my mentor in the DOD Ovarian Cancer Academy and have a collaborative manuscript under review as well as ongoing collaborative work in progress.
Lastly, the HHMT meeting allowed me to discuss science with Ron Drapkin and Ken Nephew, whom I had met previously but did not know well. Both have shared reagents with me as I started my independent laboratory and Ken has served as a generous and kind external mentor for my tenure and promotion process at GW, and significantly impacted my career trajectory"
Interesting in applying for a travelling fellowship to HHMT?
HHMT takes place every four years! Check back to find out more about opportunities for travelling fellowships in 2028.
