Stephen DeVito, Ph.D. Candidate in Tumor Biology
2017 National Cancer Institute (NCI) Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Fellowship (F99/K00) Awardee
“I would also like to say thank you to my amazing family, as well as to my second family of fellow cancer researchers in the TBIO program. There is no way I would have got here without you.”
Stephen DeVito served in the United States Air Force for seven years before pursuing a doctoral degree in Tumor Biology. He was awarded the prestigious NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Fellowship, giving him the opportunity to do two years of graduate research and four more years of postdoctoral research.
Stephen felt validated for both himself and those enrolled in the Tumor Biology Program when he was awarded the NCI Fellowship. He and his colleagues put in years of work to understand the mechanisms of cancer. By receiving this award, Stephen feels that he has taken the first step to highlighting and bringing attention to Georgetown’s Tumor Biology program.
“We are working on many exciting projects that are making a big difference in people’s lives. [This fellowship] means that I get to continue to do what I love, fight cancer.”
Because grants are difficult to receive, this opportunity will allow Stephen to transition to post-doc a little easier, since he will be able to bring funding to his new lab.
From this fellowship program, Stephen hopes to take the next steps to finishing his thesis research on DNA mutations and searching for a lab to conduct his post doctorate research. His current thesis project in Dr. Rabindra Roy’s lab is investigating DNA base excision repair pathways, looking specifically at Hypoxanthine’s — a modified DNA base caused by deamination of Adenine — mutagenic impact in cells.
Stephen’s interests include researching mitochondrial DNA dynamics (both in damage and repair) as well as radiation biology. In the future, he hopes to apply to NASA’s astronaut candidate program!
Stephen thanks and accredits his success to his family, as well as his second family of cancer researchers that he has gained through the Tumor Biology program at Biomedical Graduate Education. Congratulations Stephen on receiving such a prestigious fellowship!