Published on: September 8, 2026
Categorized as: Research
Meet the 2026 Recipient of the EHE Foundation’s Fellowship Travel Grant: Sarah McMullan
Sarah McMullan is a PhD candidate studying epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) in Dr. John Lamar's laboratory, in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Albany Medical College. This summer, the EHE Foundation awarded her a Fellowship Travel Grant for the second year in a row, allowing her to return to YAP/TAZ and TEAD: At the Crossroads of Cancer in Telluride, Colorado, and present her latest work to a room full of the field's leading researchers.
From drug screen to a promising lead
Sarah’s project began as a drug screen designed to identify FDA-approved drugs that could be repurposed for EHE. That search led her to statins, a well-tolerated class of cholesterol-lowering medication already prescribed to millions of people. Findings from Dr. Lamar’s lab now aim to support further clinical investigation into whether statins could play a role in treating people with EHE.
What our grant made possible this year
The EHE Foundation's Fellowship Travel Grant program helps early-career scientists like Sarah make the connections and collaborations that move a field forward.
“"The connections I've made with other EHE and YAP/TAZ-TEAD experts at this meeting have provided valuable insights that have significantly advanced my research. Particularly, the sharing of patient-derived EHE cell lines and mouse models across EHE labs has made it possible to translate our laboratory findings into patient tissues."
Sarah McMullan, PhD CandidateLamar Lab, Albany Medical College
That kind of resource and information sharing is difficult to replicate through email or publications alone. It happens when scientists are in the same place, at the same time, talking through their work directly. Read more about the workshop that made this possible.
What comes next
Sarah is completing her PhD in the Lamar Lab and will be pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship in translational cancer biology, where she plans to continue studying sarcomas, including EHE. Her goal is to contribute to research that advances our understanding of cancer and meaningfully impacts people's lives.
Investing in scientists like Sarah, early in their careers, is one of the most direct ways the EHE Foundation moves research forward. A single grant does more than fund a trip. It builds a relationship between a young researcher and a field of experts, one that can shape the direction of that researcher's entire career, and with it, the future of EHE research.
