University of Oklahoma Health Doctoral Student Earns Prestigious Federal Grant — Advancing Research, Education and Patient Care
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University of Oklahoma Ph.D. candidate Alex Arreola has earned a prestigious National Cancer Institute grant, one of only 15 awarded nationwide this year. Arreola is the first trainee from OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center — part of OU Health, the University of Oklahoma's academic health system — to achieve this honor, a milestone that reflects our integrated mission of research, education, and patient care.
Arreola is studying cancer cachexia, a syndrome that causes severe weight loss in up to 80% of patients with pancreatic cancer and often appears before diagnosis.
“That’s what I am researching: How is the tumor driving this weight loss so early on?” Arreola said. “In pancreatic cancer, patients are too often diagnosed in advanced stages. If we can understand the signals behind cachexia, we may have new ways to detect cancer earlier and intervene more effectively.”
His work focuses on a tumor molecule that hijacks the brain stem’s fight-or-flight response.
“If we’re being chased by a lion, we want our muscles at max capacity and our body breaking down energy stores so we can escape,” Arreola explained. “But in this case, the tumor has hijacked the system, and the body starts wasting away.”
“Alex is very deserving of this National Cancer Institute award,” said mentor Min Li, Ph.D., professor in the OU College of Medicine and associate director for global oncology at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center. “He has shown a tremendous work ethic and a desire to uncover the mechanisms behind cancer cachexia. He is already making significant contributions to science and no doubt will continue to do so.”
Arreola’s work embodies what it means to be part of OU Health, where research never stops, discoveries change lives, and the mission is to deliver healing and cures for all, reaching patients across all 77 Oklahoma counties and beyond. Being a part of an academic health system means that patient care is taking place close to where he conducts his lab work.
“While I’m not the one giving a drug to a patient, the work that we’re doing in this lab may lead to the next drug that will be given,” he said. “It’s very meaningful to be a part of pushing the science forward. Research is hard, but at the end of the day, it’s a very rewarding field to be in.”
As Oklahoma’s only National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center, Stephenson Cancer Center exemplifies the power of academic health. At OU Health, patient care, research, and education are not separate goals — they are one mission. Every student trained, every patient treated, and every discovery made drives the system forward. For OU Health, the work is never done, never outdone. Read more about this groundbreaking research from the University of Oklahoma.
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