Hillary Stires, science policy analyst at Friends of Cancer Research, Washington DC.

Hillary Stires received her BS in behavioral neuroscience from Lehigh University and her PhD in endocrinology and animal biosciences from Rutgers University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in tumor biology at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focused on tumor development and drug resistance in breast cancer. During her postdoctoral fellowship, Hillary became passionate about improving cancer research through establishing relationships between cancer researchers and patient advocates. Hillary actively engages with the patient advocate and research communities through twitter and has talked about her work in bringing these groups together in podcasts, blog posts, and a TEDx. After her postdoc, Hillary worked as a consultant at Avalere Health where she supported clients in regulatory strategy and navigating the FDA policy environment. Hillary is now a science policy analyst at Friends of Cancer Research, an advocacy think tank based in Washington DC. At Friends, Hillary supports the development and implementation of the organization’s research and policy agenda to drive collaboration that improves cancer research and patient outcomes. She also works with Teresa's Research Foundation to support opportunities that build relationships between research scientists and patient advocates.