Cody Wolf (Ph.D. Candidate) was recently recognized by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) for his contributions over the last decade within the organization and won the 2023 ACS CAN Young Leaders Award. Cody spends a lot of his time in the lab studying oncostatin M (OSM), a protein that plays a role in inflammatory responses; however, cancer cells will manipulate OSM and use it to spread faster. When Cody is not in the lab, you can oftentimes find him advocating for cancer research at the federal and state level.
A large part of Cody’s role within ACS CAN is to meet with Idaho lawmakers about passing legislation to increase cancer research funding and providing cancer patients access to better treatment. In 2018, Cody and ACS CAN played a huge role in balloting for Medicaid expansion, so that cancer patients can get better access to affordable health care. Checkout his interview with KTVB and the Idaho Press regarding the award.