A return home to central Ohio and The Ohio State University to teach, start her own lab and investigate the metabolism of stem cells and their cancer connection had already helped Maria Mihaylova, PhD, take her promising career to the next level. “And then this wonderful honor happened,” Mihaylova says of her involvement in the Herbert and Maxine Block Memorial Lectureship Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer. For the second year, the lectureship awardee will mentor a young, promising OSUCCC – James researcher. Elaine Fuchs, PhD, the 2019 Block recipient, is a world-renowned leader in the study of the connection between skin stem cells and cancer. “I’d never met Elaine, but I’ve been following her work since I was in graduate school. She’s a real pioneer in the stem cell field,” Mihaylova says. “When I saw her name as the recipient, and I knew she was coming here, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if I’m selected?’” Learn more about the 2019 Block Memorial Lectureship Award, presented to Elaine Fuchs. Mihaylova was selected as the mentee and first met Fuchs when she delivered her Block Lecture in early November. Mihaylova will travel to the Fuchs Lab in New York multiple times over the next year or two. “The biggest benefit is I will have the ability to discuss new ideas and the future direction of my work with Elaine,” she says. “She’s someone I can talk to and get input from, which will be invaluable, and we can also collaborate on some projects.” Her involvement with the Block Lectureship and Fuchs is another step forward for this young and promising researcher, who says her new mentor is a wonderful role model. “The dream would be to have a portion of the impact Elaine has had,” Mihaylova says. From Bulgaria to Bexley Mihaylova and her family emigrated from Bulgaria to central Ohio when she was 12. While still in high school, she worked in a lab at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “I loved it. I fell in love with the lab atmosphere, the questions being asked and the approaches used in the lab.” She majored in molecular genetics and continued her lab work at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute during her undergraduate years. Her research began to focus on “trying to understand how cells sense and utilize nutrients in both healthy and diseased states,” Mihaylova says. She is particularly interested in how diet and aging can alter cellular and systemic metabolism, and how these changes can lead to diseases such as cancer. “As people age, tissue stem cells can lose their abilities to function properly, and this can lead to cancer,” she says. “We’re looking at what goes wrong during aging in these cells.” Finding the answers can lead to new and more effective treatments for a number of diseases. Most recently, Mihaylova has also been investigating the impact of the diet on stem cell and tissue regeneration. Initial laboratory research indicates that reducing calories, as well as short-term fasting, could help stem cells regenerate faster and better. “Our goal is to prevent cancer and help find better treatment by uncovering metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer cells that we can exploit,” she says. A two-way street Fuchs said Mihaylova’s background in metabolism will be a boost for her lab. “All our interactions will be a two-way street and will expand the communication networks we already have,” Fuchs says. Mihaylova has made a strong start toward her goal of doing meaningful research that will benefit cancer patients. Her new lab has seven researchers, including undergrads, a graduate student and a postdoc, as well as two full-time researchers. “That was important to me, to have researchers at all career levels,” she says. “I’ve had so many great mentors along the way, starting from high school all the way to my postdoctoral training and now here at The James, and I want to pay it forward and help others.”