Natasha Hunter receives Excellence in Breast Cancer Research Award

Dr. Natasha Hunter, assistant professor (Hematology and Oncology) has been named the 2026 recipient of the Athena Endowed Award for Excellence in Breast Cancer Research.

The Athena Award was established to recognize an early career researcher making the greatest contribution during the past year toward advancing research to improve the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and/or treatment of breast cancer.

Hunter is a translational breast cancer researcher and clinical oncologist at the University of Washington and Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

She has research interests in circulating tumor DNA to guide treatment and monitor for tumor presence/response, and in immunologic approaches to detection and treatment of micrometastatic disease and prevention of cancer recurrence.

She joined the UW Medicine Cancer Vaccine Institute in 2025 and is now serving as the Director of Clinical Trials and principal investigator for multiple clinical trials.