01 Sep 2025 UAMS graduate student first in state to earn National Cancer Institute Award 

LITTLE ROCK — Reham Sewilam, a Ph.D. student in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Graduate School and a trainee of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, has become the first graduate student in Arkansas to receive the highly competitive National Cancer Institute (NCI) Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award. 

The six-year fellowship, totaling $500,776, provides two years of support to complete Sewilam’s doctoral research and four years of funding for postdoctoral training. Fewer than 25 of the awards are given nationwide each year, and each institution may nominate only one applicant. 

“This fellowship is truly a game-changer for me,” said Sewilam, a fourth-year doctoral student in the UAMS Graduate Program for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences. “It not only makes me highly competitive for postdoctoral positions in leading research labs but also gives me the freedom to pursue high-impact, high-risk cancer research. Because it is one of the few NCI awards open to international students, it is especially meaningful to me.” 

Sewilam’s research focuses on understanding how certain aggressive cancers, such as glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer, survive therapy-induced stress and develop resistance to treatment. Her research investigates replication gap suppression, a process cancer cells use to maintain DNA integrity despite damage from tumor-associated processes, as well as treatments, such as radiation or chemotherapy. 

“Reham shows remarkable potential as a cancer researcher in tackling some of the toughest questions in cancer biology,” said Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and a UAMS vice chancellor. “This award underscores the strength of the Cancer Institute’s mission to support and train the next generation of scientific leaders.”

In glioblastoma, Sewilam has identified new roles for the enzyme, polymerase kappa, in filling dangerous single-stranded DNA gaps and altering replication speed, activities that appear to protect the tumor. Inhibiting this enzyme could make existing treatments more effective and improve survival for patients facing cancers where prognosis is poor and has not improved in decades. 

“This fellowship is unique in how it helps outstanding graduate students transition into promising postdoctoral training while strengthening the nation’s cancer research workforce,” said Alan Tackett, Ph.D., deputy director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and executive associate dean for basic research in the UAMS College of Medicine. “Reham’s research has the potential to transform how we design new therapies for patients facing some of the most difficult to treat cancers.”

“Reham not only excelled in an incredibly competitive national pool, she also designed both phases of the research plan with a vision and precision that sets her up for long-term success,” said Robert Eoff, Ph.D., professor and vice-chair of the UAMS Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Eoff is Sewilam’s doctoral mentor and a Cancer Institute research member. 

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), Eoff’s laboratory has studied DNA replication and how it impacts cancer for over a decade. Eoff leads the UAMS Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer, which will provide training, resources and equipment to support Sewilam’s research.   

“Reham’s achievement is historic for Arkansas and a point of pride for UAMS,” said Sean Taverna, Ph.D., dean of the UAMS Graduate School and a Cancer Institute research member. “Earning such a nationally competitive award speaks to her extraordinary talent, as well as to the world-class education and training our faculty provide.”   

“Reham’s success reflects the caliber of students we attract and the supportive, collaborative research environment at UAMS,” said Kevin Raney, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a Cancer Institute member. “We are proud of her achievement and excited to see the impact of her research in the years ahead.” 

Originally from Egypt, Sewilam earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cairo University before moving to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. In addition to her research, Sewilam served as president of the UAMS Graduate Student Association, where she created the first workshops at UAMS focused on preparing competitive fellowship applications. She also became the UAMS Graduate School’s first representative to the UAMS Student Government Association. Her leadership has been recognized with the UAMS Visionary Leadership Award and the Change Maker Award. 

The NCI F99/K00 Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award supports outstanding Ph.D. and other research doctoral candidates complete their dissertation research training (F99 phase) and transition in a timely manner to mentored, cancer-focused postdoctoral career development research positions (K00 phase). The award covers stipend, tuition, research expenses, travel and professional development.