Hope Liou - Inaugural Provost's Finishing Fellow, Spring 2026
Sometimes personal experiences along with discovering that we excel in a specific area can lead to forging a path toward what will become our life’s work.
This is how Hope Liou, a doctoral student in the Cancer Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, describes finding her path. Liou is the inaugural recipient of the Provost’s GIDP Finishing Fellowship in Spring 2026, when she plans to defend her dissertation and complete her program.
The fellowship was established to advance the university’s strategic imperatives and demonstrate Provost Prelock’s commitment to supporting graduate student success and timely program completion. The fellowship provides financial and academic support to help recipients complete their GIDP master’s or doctoral degree during the award period.
“My family’s personal experience with cancer inspired my decision to study available therapies and the potential to improve them,” said Liou, adding that, “as the first in my family to enter the field of science, I find it a truly special opportunity to dedicate myself to research and help push the boundaries of cancer therapy.”
Liou, from the Bay Area in California, attended the University of Oregon and earned a Bachelor of Science in biology. “I worked in a lab exploring RNA Polymerase II arresting mechanism and this is how I got jumpstarted in my career in research,” she said. After graduation, Liou worked at life sciences companies Thermo Fisher Scientific and Seer Inc., she said, where she developed immunoassays and a cancer diagnostic proteomics platform.
“I learned so much from these experiences and I knew I wanted to pursue a doctorate,” she said, adding that, “The University of Arizona was a wonderful opportunity for me to expand my vision of research and the community that science serves.”
Liou said that her time at Seer Inc., was the catalyst for pursuing a doctoral degree. “Through collaborations with mentors and colleagues, I recognized that a doctoral degree encompasses more than just research; it represents a compilation of rigorous training and depth of knowledge.”
She is grateful to have been selected as the Provost’s Finishing Fellow, and that it provides “the financial and mental support to complete my degree on time. During my last semester of training, I will have the time and resources needed to complete my experiments and prepare my dissertation and defense.”
She added that, “In collaboration with the fellowship, I will have the support of the graduate writing lab and my peers. This fellowship also supports a smooth transition into the next stage of my career as an industry scientist. Most significantly, this fellowship underscores the commitment to student success, providing essential support up to and including the critical moment of timely graduation.”
Liou’s plans after graduation are to continue doing cancer diagnostic or therapeutics as an industry scientist.
Research Interests
Hope Liu's research focuses on finding the mechanistic reasons why PIM inhibitors have not been effective in treating prostate cancers resistant to standard therapy and developing alternative more effective therapies. Her experience and research interest revolves around understanding and utilizing protein patterns in cancer to create targeted therapies.
Contributions to the endowment that funds graduate awards can be made here.