Dickinson Students Present at World’s Leading Cancer Research Conference
![Dickinson students gather in front of the venue sign](/images/Cancer_Conference_thumb.jpg")
Photo by Joe O'Neill.
video by Joe O'Neill
Members of Professor of Biology Mike Roberts' cancer lab explore the latest advances in cancer science, bioinformatics and drug discovery
Students from Associate Professor of Biology Mike Roberts' cancer lab recently attended and presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual conference in Chicago, where 21,000 participants from 80 countries discussed cutting-edge science.
“This has been really beneficial, because I'm going to go on to get my Ph.D. next year in molecular medicine,” says Helena Holley ’25 (biology). “So just being able to see the most recent current research going on definitely is giving me ideas on future directions where I want to go.”
The trip was fully funded—with transportation, meals and hotels covered—and the students presented their research on acute myeloid leukemia while exploring the latest advances in cancer science, bioinformatics and drug discovery—a huge step in launching a career in any medical field.
“My experience has been wonderful,” says Pranav Mishra '25 (computer science, mathematics). “While it may seem a little out of place for a person like me to be at a meeting where people primarily study cancer, computer science and biology actually intersect very heavily in the domain of bioinformatics.”
Besides the informative and experiential nature of the outing, students found that they had unexpected networking opportunities with people from around the world. In that setting though, Dickinson students still stood out.
“At the undergraduate symposium that we attended, we, by and large, were the most people from one singular school,” says Katy Meta '25 (biology), “and coming from a small liberal-arts college, that was really incredible.”
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Published May 2, 2025