Current Fellows
Pursuing Their Career Goals With Our Support
The UIC Cancer Education and Career Development Program supports up to six postdoctoral and predoctoral fellows each year. We accept applicants from a wide spectrum of academic backgrounds — from the biological and medical sciences, to sociology, statistics, economics, math, and more. We particularly welcome fellows from ethnic and racial backgrounds that are underrepresented in cancer research.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Jen Sanchez-Flack, PhD
Research Interests: Health disparities research, built environment and behavioral interventions to promote healthy dietary behavior, dissemination and implementation science research to improve the translation of evidence-based interventions.
Email: jsanch38@uic.edu
Patricia G. Wolf PhD, RDN
Research Interests: Dietary modulation of microbial taurocholic acid metabolism and colorectal cancer risk.
Email: gondry2@uic.edu
Shaila Strayhorn, PhD, MPH
Research Interests: Assessing the relationship between social determinants of health such as social support and the quality of life among both individuals at a high risk of cancer and cancer survivors.
Email: sstray2@uic.edu
Predoctoral Fellows
Alpana Kaushiva, MHS
Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health
Dissertation Focus: Association of ambient air pollutants and residential histories with racial/ethnic disparities in breast cancer subtypes among women in the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Registry.
Email: akaush20@uic.edu
Carola Sanchez-Diaz, MS
Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health
Dissertations Focus: Understanding the role of social determinants and breast cancer risk factors such as obesity on understanding racial/ethnic disparities in breast cancer.
Email: csanch56@uic.edu
Catherine Pichardo, MA
Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Dissertations Focus: Examine the role of neighborhood disadvantage on cancer-related outcomes and identifying mechanisms that may play a role in this relationship.
Email: cpicha2@uic.edu