Dr. Christina Termini is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Her research goal is to define how adult blood stem cells recover from radiation, chemotherapy, and transplant. Radiation and chemotherapy are used to treat more than 50% of all cancer patients, which kills cancer cells but also depletes the patient’s blood and immune systems. This puts patients at increased risk of developing life-threatening complications, such as infection or hemorrhage. Dr. Termini’s research aims to define the molecular processes that control blood and immune system recovery after radiation, chemotherapy, and transplant to avoid these dangerous risks.

Additionally, many cancer patients require stem cell transplants to replenish their blood and immune system, but if unsuccessful, patients require another transplant. And for some populations (e.g., Black, Latinx), the probability of finding a donor is substantially lower than White patients which creates a barrier to treatment and contributes to cancer disparities. Her research aims to identify new ways to improve stem cell transplant efficiency to maximize the output of the rare donor cells and prevent the need for multiple transplants, thereby improving patient outcomes overall and reducing cancer disparities.