SEATTLE — July 14, 2026 — Eight researchers at Fred Hutch Cancer Center will receive a total of $975,000 for research projects as part of Fred Hutch’s Evergreen Fund, an internal grant program designed to advance translational discoveries to a commercially viable stage.
The selected projects include an assay to guide pancreatic cancer treatment decisions, a method to improve CAR-T effectiveness, an antibody treatment for herpes simplex virus and a new approach that could stop the development of acute myeloid leukemia.
An advisory board of pharma and biotech leaders, venture capitalists and other members of the life sciences industry chose the projects to receive funding based on the projects’ potential to move from the lab bench to the clinic and commercial markets.
“The Evergreen Fund represents the next wave of biomedical innovation from Fred Hutch scientists,” said Hilary Hehman, MS, JD, Vice President of Business Development at Fred Hutch. “Through this program, Fred Hutch accelerates research toward the clinic while connecting our scientists with industry and venture capital leaders. Together, these efforts advance our mission to improve human health.”
Hehman’s team oversees the Evergreen Fund at Fred Hutch. Since its creation in 2016, the fund has provided approximately $8.6 million for 73 Fred Hutch projects in cancer, infectious diseases, immunotherapy and more.
The fund offers two tiers of awards: Pilot Awards of up to $75,000 for projects in the earliest stages of development, and Beyond Pilot Awards of up to $200,000 for projects that have already generated compelling data and are poised for industry engagement.
The 2026 Evergreen Fund Awardees
Beyond Pilot Awardees ($200,000 each):
- Kevin Cheung, MD, is building on his lab’s discoveries about cooperative signaling between cancer cells to develop new treatments to disrupt breast tumor survival, growth and metastasis. Cheung is a breast cancer physician at Fred Hutch and a professor in the Public Health Sciences Division.
- Erik Kimble, MD, a physician scientist at Fred Hutch, is exploring a method to boost the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapy after an initial infusion of these engineered cells. The approach is aimed to prevent relapse in people receiving CAR-T for blood cancers. Jason Price, PhD, a protein engineer and principal investigator in the Ben Towne Center at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, will co-lead the project.
- Anton Sholukh, PhD, is developing an antibody therapy for herpes simplex virus, with the goal of being able to provide long term suppression of the virus for people who have recurrent infections. Sholuhk is a principal staff scientist in the lab of Larry Corey, MD, a professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division.
Pilot Awardees ($75,000 each):
- Irv Bernstein, MD, is a professor in the Translational Sciences and Therapeutics Division. His project will explore how to inhibit the function of the DLK1 gene, which is required for engraftment of neuroblastoma.
- Stephanie Dobersch, PhD, is developing a clinical assay that distinguishes between pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma subtypes, which could help guide personalized treatments. Dobersch is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Sita Kugel, PhD, a professor in the Human Biology Division.
- Patrick Paddison, PhD, a professor in the Human Biology Division, will use AI-designed miniproteins and peptides to develop therapeutics that disrupt cancer-specific mechanisms required for chromosome segregation and tumor cell growth.
- Lev Silberstein, MD, PhD, will test a new approach to eradicate pre-leukemic cells and prevent the development of aggressive, full-blown leukemia. Silberstein is an associate professor in the Translational Sciences and Therapeutics Division and a physician at Fred Hutch.
- Sanjay Srivatsan, PhD, is developing an assay to identify naturally occurring autoantibodies in patients whose cancers respond to checkpoint inhibitors, which could inform new therapies. Srivatsan, an associate professor in the Basic Sciences Division, will co-lead the project with Aaron Ring, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the Translational Sciences and Therapeutics Division and holder of the Anderson Family Endowed Chair for Immunotherapy at Fred Hutch.
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Note: To the extent any commercializable discoveries result from the aforementioned research, Fred Hutch and the scientists who contributed to the discoveries may stand to benefit from their future commercialization.
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Media contact:
Molly McElroy
mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Fred Hutch Cancer Center unites individualized care and advanced research to provide the latest cancer treatment options while accelerating discoveries that prevent, treat and cure cancer and infectious diseases worldwide.
Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy, HIV/AIDS prevention and COVID-19 vaccines. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.