Sharon Loa

Sharon Loa, from Puente Piedra, Peru, and raised in Montana, is pursuing an MD/PhD in cancer biology at Stanford School of Medicine. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Montana with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. Sharon aims to lead a research lab at the intersection of cancer biology, bioinformatics, and oncology, developing diagnostic tools that make personalized care more accessible and equitable. As an undergraduate, she solved three novel protein structures and received multiple national research awards. At the Mayo Clinic, her postbaccalaureate research uncovered a critical metabolic pathway in cancer and was published in several publications, including Nature Metabolism. Her doctoral thesis focuses on identifying a shared immunological state that predicts severe immune-related adverse events across cancer therapies and developing the first minimally invasive liquid biopsy assay to stratify patient risk and potential benefit before immunotherapy. Sharon is a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow.