Steven Tau was awarded a competitive Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral National Research Service Award (F31) from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The Kirschstein F31 Awards support the graduate research of students with a demonstrated potential to develop as productive and independent researchers.
Steven is a MD-PhD student pursuing his PhD in the MCB Program, working in Cancer Biology under the guidance of Dr. Todd Miller. Students in the Geisel School of Medicine MD-PhD Program complete 2 years of medical school, pursue their doctoral research, and then resume medical school. After Steven defends his dissertation in early 2024, he will re-join the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth as a third-year medical student.
Appropriate to his physician scientist path, Steven's thesis project is clinically motivated. Breast cancers are classified based on the expression of molecular markers, such as hormone receptors. Those that express estrogen receptors are called ER+ and have available treatments. However, about a third of patients with ER+ breast cancer experience tumor recurrence after remission. These recurrences contribute to the majority of morbidity and mortality in breast cancer patients. Tumor recurrence also means that there were cancer cells hiding out somewhere in the body for a prolonged period of time, evading detection. The Miller Lab models these persistent cancer cells in the lab, and Steven has found that mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, become more crucial for their survival. He is currently working to find a vulnerability in this metabolism that may make the cancer cells more susceptible to available therapeutic strategies.
Steven grew up in Southern NH. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester and did research at the National Cancer Institute as a post-baccalaureate fellow before returning to NH for his MD-PhD at Dartmouth. When he's not in lab, you can find Steven outside. Year round, he might be running or hiking in the White Mountains and, in winter, you'll also find him on the ski slopes.
