Molly Taylor Awarded Funds to Study Stress Biomarkers

May 24, 2023 – Congratulations to Dr. Molly Taylor, principal investigator in the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and attending physician in the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, for her Clinician Scientist Development Grant from the American Cancer Society. The five-year, $729,000 award will help establish foundational data in the emerging field of stress biomarker research.

The funded project, “Neuroimmune Stress Biomarkers and Psychosocial Outcomes in Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer,” supports Taylor’s research focus on understanding how the mind, brain and immune system work together to impact outcomes for young patients with cancer.

“I plan to use this support to provide some of the first psychosocial biomarker data in the AYA cancer population, which in turn I hope will inform larger biopsychosocial intervention studies,” said Taylor, who is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “This type of support is critical to launching my research program, and I am so excited to get started!”

— Colleen Steelquist