Markey Women Strong

Members of Markey Women Strong fund women-led research that is transforming cancer prevention and treatment.

Supporting Bold Research

Markey Women Strong is a group of donors with a unique focus: to fund women-led cancer research at the UK Markey Cancer Center. This program supports two annual $50,000 grant awards to women scientists who are forging innovative approaches to the advancement of cancer science.

10 Years

Markey Women Strong has been funding cancer research since 2016.

100 Members

Together, donors fuel progress in cancer science.

20 Grantees

Markey researchers are advancing cancer science and treatments.

$900,000

Member generosity shows a commitment to reducing cancer’s impact.

Become a Member

Grant Recipients

Markey Women Strong is proud to support the following researchers and their work to advance cancer prevention and treatment.

Ni Su, Ph.D. | 2026

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
Research Focus: Engineering a Local Immune Training Platform for Personalized Cancer Vaccines

Denise Fabian, MD | 2026

Associate Professor, College of Medicine, Department of Radiation Medicine
Research Focus: Patient-Centered Survivorship After Treatment-Induced Menopause: Hormone Therapy Experience and Bone Health Following Pelvic Radiation

Sasha Jakubek, PhD | 2025

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Informatics, Department of Internal Medicine
Research Focus: Unraveling Early Cancer Dynamics for Targeting Cancer Prevention

Jessica Blackburn, PhD | 2025

Associate Professor, Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry
Research Focus: Developing cfDNA-Based Personalized Medicine Approaches for Pediatric Leukemia

Mautin Barry-Hundeyin, MD | 2024

Assistant Professor, Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery
Research Focus: How Macrophages Regulate Stomach Cancer

Kathleen O'Connor, PhD | 2024

Associate Director of Cancer Education, UK Markey Cancer Center
Research Focus: Can We Use Chemotherapy Better in Order to Cure Triple Negative Breast Cancer?

Christine Brainson, PhD | 2023

Associate Professor, Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Overcoming Therapeutic Resistance in Lung Cancer Using Novel Combination Therapies

Rina Plattner, PhD | 2023

Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Developing New Therapies for Metastatic Melanoma

Jill M. Kolesar, PharmD, MS | 2022

University Research Professor, Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine
Research Focus: Development of Novel Treatments for Ovarian Cancer

Krystle A. Lang Kuhs, PhD, MPH | 2022

Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health
Research Focus: The VOYAGER Study: HPV16 AntibOdy Detection as an EarlY Marker of OrophArynGeal CancER

Luksana Chaiswing, PhD | 2021

Assistant Professor (tenure track), Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Targeting Cell Powerhouses "Mitochondria" to Enhance Radiation Treatment Outcomes

Emilia Galperin, PhD | 2021

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Tampering with ERK1/2 Signals for Cancer Treatment

Teresa Fan, PhD | 2020

Professor, Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Uncovering Plasma Exosomal Lipid Patterns for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

Kate Zaytseva, PhD | 2020

Assistant Professor (tenure track), Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Lipid Metabolism as a Therapeutic Target for Colorectal Cancer

Tianyan Gao, PhD | 2019

Professor, Dept. of Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Study of Metabolic Interactions in Obesity Associated Colon Cancer

Eva M. Goellner, PhD | 2019

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Toxicology & Cancer Biology, College of Medicine
Research Focus: DNA Mismatch Repair in Chemotherapy Resistance

Sally R. Ellingson, PhD | 2018

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine
Research Focus: Computational Methods that Predict Drug Interactions

Kathleen O’Connor, PhD | 2018

Associate Director of Cancer Education, UK Markey Cancer Center
Research Focus: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Rina Plattner, PhD | 2017

Professor, Dept. of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences
Research Focus: Melanoma Metastasis and Therapeutic Resistance

Kathleen O’Connor, PhD | 2017