Current Fellows
Pursuing Their Career Goals With Our Support
The UIC Cancer Health 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 conducting research across the cancer prevention and control continuum.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Kate Cares, PhD, RD
Research Interests:Design and implementation of dietary interventions to improve cardiometabolic health and modulate gut microbiome biomarkers in young adult survivors of pediatric cancer.
Email: kcares2@uic.edu
Lauren Giurini, PhD
Research Interests: Research statement
Email: lgiurin2@uic.edu
Kaitlin Chakos, PhD, RD
Research Interests: Evaluating the role of diet and lifestyle interventions across cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship in improving clinical outcomes in breast cancer.
Email: chakos2@uic.edu
Predoctoral Fellows
Marilyn Barragan
Department of Medicine
School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Dissertation Focus: Understanding the racial and ethnic disparities in gynecological cancers of Latina women from diagnosis to treatment and survivorship using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
Email: mbarra7@uic.edu
Shanta Ghosh
Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health
Dissertations Focus: Research statement
Email: sghosh32@uic.edu
Naga Srinija Gummadi, BDS, MS, MPH
Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health
Dissertations Focus: Using geospatial and epidemiologic approaches to examine how racial and ethnic inequities in colorectal cancer risk, tumor characteristics, and survival are shaped by long-term neighborhood food environments, obesity, and structural determinants of health, with the goal of informing targeted, equity-centered prevention and care strategies.
Email: ngumma3@uic.edu