It’s our third week of introducing the William Raveis Charitable Fund Fellowship Recipients! Today we meet Dr. Megan Insco, from St. Joseph, Missouri!

Dr. Insco studies advanced melanoma. Melanoma initiation and drug resistance rely heavily on factors that control gene expression. Proteins called Cyclin Dependent Kinases (CDKs) show promise as drug targets in multiple difficult-to-treat cancers and are enabling a method to “drug” the previously “undruggable” process of gene expression. Dr. Insco aims to determine whether any of the transcriptional CDKs could be an effective drug target in advanced melanoma.

Dr. Insco grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri.  She earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Duke University and her MD and PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine. Her love of science was sparked as a young child by her father. After suffering a personal loss to cancer, her passion to find a cure became her singular focus. In addition to mothering two boys, Dr. Insco is devoted to Ultimate Frisbee.  She has been a member of two national championship-winning Ultimate Frisbee teams and won the World Beach Championships as part of the US Women’s Team in 2011.