Five Early-Career Scientists Named 2026 Pew-Stewart Scholars

The 2026 cohort will investigate the fundamental biological mechanisms governing tumor development and the body's immune response. Sarah Aitken of Yale University leads the group by combining genomics and image analysis to map how mutations trigger cancer initiation. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Alexander Gitlin is analyzing the intersection of inflammatory signaling and cell death, while Anna-Maria Globig of the Allen Institute explores the communication between the nervous and immune systems to bolster anticancer immunity.

Additional research includes Roarke Kamber’s work at the University of California, San Francisco, which examines how macrophages interact with tumors, and Ahmad Nabhan’s study at the University of California, Berkeley, focused on decoding stem cell environments for precision therapy. According to Helen Piwnica-Worms, chair of the program's national advisory committee, these scientists were chosen for their potential to push the boundaries of current biomedical discovery and improve long-term patient outcomes.