Postdoc Deena Snoke, Ph.D., was recently awarded the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. The Pathway to Independence Award is a highly competitive grant given to strong postdoctoral scientists to facilitate their transition to an independent, tenure-track faculty position. The award provides up to five years of funding consisting of two phases: a mentored phase and an independent research phase. 

The prestigious award is given to postdoctoral fellows who have a demonstrated history of obtaining extramural funding. Recent examples of Snoke’s success include being awarded the UVM Cancer Center Postdoctoral Research Excellence Award, a Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer Fellowship, and a renewal of her NCI-sponsored Loan Repayment Program application. 

The University of Vermont Cancer Center Postdoctoral Research Excellence Award recognizes and supports an outstanding postdoctoral fellow engaged in cancer-related research. The merit-based award provides $10,000 per year for three years to the fellow, to be used in support of their research, training, or professional development.

In addition, Snoke was also selected as one of eight postdoctoral fellows, and the first invited fellow from the University of Vermont, to participate in the ninth annual Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (TREC) training workshop.

We sat down with Dr. Snoke to learn more about how the K99/R00 will shape her career trajectory. 

First, congratulations! Can you tell us a little about how the Pathway to Independence Award will shape your career trajectory? 

The K99/R00 award will provide me with funding to conduct my own independent research, distinct from that of my mentor’s, while still a senior-level postdoc. This not only allows me to generate data for projects that can be used for my future grant applications, but it also provides me with valuable experience in budget management while still a trainee. It also demonstrates that I can write a successful grant application, and predicts for my ability to successfully compete for funding of future grants. For these reasons, and because the award supports my salary and research as I transition to my next role as an assistant professor, I am a more competitive candidate for research-focused faculty appointments. 

Additionally, the reception of this award provides me with funding for manuscript publication and travel to conferences and workshops to communicate my work and gain new technical skills that I would not have the opportunity to do otherwise. 

The award consists of two phases, the mentored phase and the independent research phase. Can you tell us a little about the work you plan to do during each phase of the award? 

Our preliminary work shows that fat loss occurs early during lung cancer cachexia, a condition characterized by muscle and fat loss. During the K99 phase of my research, my work will focus on how early fat loss during lung cancer cachexia may contribute to the growth of aggressive tumors and muscle loss later in disease progression. Historically, fat loss has been viewed as a passive partner to the more consequential muscle loss, which predicts for functional decline and mortality. However, this work has the potential to upend this conventional perspective and redefine the role of fat wasting as a pathologically relevant part of disease progression. Additionally, it could uncover novel targets for drug development to treat both cachexia and the inciting tumor. 

Because energy substrates—e.g., fatty acids, which are mobilized from adipose tissues during fat loss—can also be acquired through the diet, my overarching hypothesis is that both endogenous substrates from wasting fat and exogenous substrates from the consumption of particular types of dietary fats may similarly contribute to these processes. In the R00 portion, I will incorporate studies looking at the types of dietary fats consumed, with a focus on saturated fat due to its known associations with cancer risk, and how this may contribute to tumor growth and muscle loss. Importantly, the work conducted during the R00 portion of the award could contribute seminal evidence for the importance of modifiable dietary factors during the early stages of lung cancer and cachexia. 

How will the work you conduct under this award impact our community? 

Lung cancer is a catchment area research priority of the UVM Cancer Center, and the majority of patients with lung cancer experience cancer cachexia, for which there is currently no approved treatment. Thus, this work could help to identify new biological processes to treat lung tumors and also provide dietary guidelines for patients at high risk for, and with, lung cancer. Both of these outcomes would confer an enormous benefit to our future patient populations.  

What is your long-term career goal?

My goals are to build an independent, translational research program while training the next generation of scientists, have a productive and sustainable academic research career, and contribute to science that improves cancer survivorship and patient quality of life.

Could you describe some ways the UVM Cancer Center has contributed to your success? 

First, the UVM Cancer Center has facilitated opportunities to interact with researchers spanning the translational research spectrum and outside of my area of research, which has led to collaborative work with other Cancer Center members. Additionally, I have been provided with financial support, such as the Juckett Travel Award, allowing for me to disseminate my research by traveling to international conferences, as well as the UVMCC Postdoctoral Research Excellence Award, which will allow me to conduct additional experiments and learn analytical skills that will increase the impact of my work. 

Is there anything else you would like to share?

This type of success does not happen in isolation; it truly takes a village. I am deeply grateful to those who have trained me and fostered a research environment where I have thrived and accomplished beyond what I ever thought was possible. I entered my postdoc with a completely different vision of what I would be doing for a career, and with perceived weaknesses in my scientific skills. However, the positive experience I have had at UVM completely changed my perspective and career goals. Importantly, I want to thank my postdoc mentor, Michael Toth, who for the past four and a half years has nurtured my scientific and professional development and helped me find my identity and confidence as a scientist, and to the many sponsors, mentors, and collaborators along this journey who saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. If I had any advice to offer to trainees, it would be to: 1) be willing to listen to your needs and be okay with changing your plans and perspectives; and 2) identify mentors and sponsors who can help you determine, clearly define, and achieve your own goals, increase your visibility, and promote your work.