Resident and Radiation Oncology Research Scholar (RORS) Pete Hendrickson, MD, PhD, has received a 2024 Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award (YIA). The YIA is a one-year grant totaling $50,000 that is meant to encourage and promote quality research in clinical oncology, and aid in the transition from training to a faculty appointment.
Dr. Hendrickson, the first trainee to complete residency through the novel Radiation Oncology Research Scholar (RORS) track at Duke Radiation Oncology, is currently exploring CIC-DUX4 sarcoma, a rare and aggressive undifferentiated small round cell sarcoma that mostly affects children and young adults.
“In this disease, the CIC gene partners with the DUX4 gene to drive tumors which it does very effectively and, unlike most cancers, independent of any other genetic alterations.” During residency, Dr. Hendrickson developed three different mouse models of this rare fusion gene-driven cancer. Now, using CRISPR screens, drugs screens, and other functional genomic approaches he hopes to identify the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms responsible for tumor formation and maintenance in hopes of finding better treatments.
Dr. Hendrickson is candid about the reality of being a physician-scientist. “There are a lot of barriers to choosing this path,” he said, smiling wryly. “I’ve spent my entire adult life learning and training and have had to make a lot of sacrifices along the way.”
He advises trainees interested in the physician-scientist pathway to “find out what motivates you. Some people get the most joy out of seeing and treating patients and they usually make the best doctors. I love taking care of people too, but, if I’m being honest, I wake up and go to bed most days thinking about science. Medicine needs both. If your interest in medicine is piqued by a scientific curiosity and a desire to pave the way for new treatments, you’re probably well-suited for the physician-scientist pathway.”