Alfredo Chua, MD

Dr. Alfredo Chua is a medical oncologist from the Philippines with a specialized focus on solid tumors and lymphomas. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Cancer Sciences at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center - State University of New York at Buffalo, where his research focuses on cancer health disparities, immunotherapy, survivorship, and cancer epidemiology. His dissertation investigates the distinct responses of minoritized racial and ethnic groups to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Dr. Chua’s academic journey began with completing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of the Philippines followed by a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Clinical Medicine degrees from the same institution. He completed his Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Medical Oncology training at the Philippine General Hospital, the largest tertiary hospital in the Philippines. Throughout his career, Dr. Chua has actively contributed to the field through numerous presentations at prestigious national and international conferences, including an oral presentation at an American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference. His work has been published in high-impact journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Chua is also a member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).
Valentina Grillo Alvarado, B.S.

Valentina Grillo-Alvarado earned her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. She received her initial research training in the lab of Professor José García-Arrarás, PhD and was supported by the NIH Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program. As an undergraduate, Valentina pursued additional research opportunities, including internships at Brown University with the Leadership Alliance under Professor Ruhul Abid, MD, PhD, and as an Amgen Scholar at Stanford University with Professor Irving Weismann, MD and mentor Gunsagar Gulati, MD, PhD. She is currently a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Molecular and Cellular Program at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 2020, she joined the labs of Professors Christine Quietsch, PhD, and Doug Fowler, PhD where she worked on high-throughput assays to profile insulator sequences in plants and oncogenic protein variants.
Following a career break after her mother's passing from lung cancer, Valentina realized first-hand the urgent need to study and harness the immune system for highly specific cancer therapies. This experience led her to switch her thesis to work with Professor Bruce Torbett, PhD, MSPH. Valentina’s research focus is on discovering AML vulnerabilities along the hematopoietic differentiation spectrum. This knowledge is vital for informing innovative immune-engineering strategies to combat various diseases, particularly blood cancers like AML. Valentina is grateful to receive a travel award for her first formal education in immunotherapy. The 2025 SITC Cancer Immunotherapy Winter School will provide her with foundational knowledge in cancer immunology to guide her thesis project and make connections with leading researchers in the field.
Catherine Kirkpatrick, B.S.

Catherine Kirkpatrick graduated Magna Cum Laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. As an undergraduate, she gained valuable experience in molecular biology research. After graduating, she contributed to COVID-19 population health research at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Currently, Catherine is in her fourth year of the MD/PhD program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she conducts her PhD research in Dr. Y. William Lu’s lab in the Department of Pathology. Her research focuses on unraveling new mechanisms of T cell exhaustion in the tumor microenvironment using advanced single-cell sequencing techniques. She recently published a review article discussing the role of CD4+ T cells in cancer and cancer immunotherapy.