By Reagan Malenius
Chayil Lattimore is a biomedical sciences Ph.D. candidate. Lattimore’s work involves investigating the impact of differential miRNA expression on racial disparities in advanced-stage laryngeal cancer.
When Chayil Lattimore was young, her dream was to be an astronaut. During her academic career in high school, she struggled with confidence in her mathematics abilities and felt that she would never be able to pursue a career in science. As a result, Lattimore decided to switch gears and consider a career in the social sciences since she also enjoyed her history classes.
However, Lattimore’s innate intellectual curiosity and interest in the sciences caught her high school chemistry teacher’s eye. Seeing potential and passion in Lattimore, her teacher challenged and pushed her toward a career in the biological sciences.
After high school graduation, Lattimore enrolled at Florida A&M University for her undergraduate studies in molecular biology. During the summer of her junior year, she was selected for the Cancer Research Training Opportunities for Outstanding Leaders (ReTOOL) Program, a 15-week summer program designed to help underrepresented minorities gain experience in cancer health disparities research. Lattimore was placed at the University of Florida where she gained her first exposure to cancer research.
After Lattimore’s undergraduate graduation, she was selected for the postbacccalaureate Florida-California Cancer Research, Education and Engagement (CaRE2) Health Equity Center program, which engages those underrepresented in the cancer research workforce. Once again, Lattimore was placed at UF.
Now, Lattimore is a graduate student in the Cancer Biology Concentration in the UF College of Medicine’s Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences. Mentored by Kristianna Fredenburg, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, she is investigating cancer health disparities from a biological perspective. Some of her work involves investigating the impact of differential miRNA expression on racial disparities in advanced-stage laryngeal cancer.
“My passion with my research is knowing its potential to make a difference,” Lattimore said. “I’m African American and a first-hand witness to such disparities, so I hope that my work can help bridge the gap. There could be different ways to fix disparities that go beyond social or economic issues.”
