Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama Funds Two of the 2026 O’Neal NextGen Scholar Awards

The UAB O’Neal Cancer Center is pleased to announce the latest recipients of the O’Neal NextGen Scholar Awards. This year, two of these awards were generously funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA).

• Li’an Williams received a NextGen Award for her project, “Hedgehog Inhibition Programs CD8+ Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells for Sustained Anti-Tumor Immunity in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.”
• Ayla Vaughn Embs received a NextGen Award for her project, “Development of a Novel PET Tracer for Mouse NKp46 for Detection of NK Cell Infiltration in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.”

In addition to these two awards, three more O’Neal NextGen Scholar Awards were funded through funds raised by the O’Neal Cancer Center’s Young Supporter’s Board (YSB); read about these awards on our blog at https://www.onealcanceruab.org/news-and-events/news/2026-oneal-nextgen-scholars.

The O’Neal NextGen Awards exists to enable promising predoctoral students and postdoctoral trainees to obtain mentored cancer research training from O’Neal Cancer Center faculty advisors, enhancing the awardee’s development into a productive, independent cancer researcher.

To learn more about the O’Neal NextGen Scholar Award program, visit our website at https://www.onealcanceruab.org/research/funding-opportunities/. To learn more about the O’Neal Cancer Center YSB, visit https://www.onealcanceruab.org/about/leadership/young-supporters-board/. To learn more about the BCRFA, visit https://www.bcrfa.org/.