Evie Goodyear

Students searching for a cure

The Pelotonia bike ride convenes thousands of people for one goal: fund Ohio State cancer research. This community has raised nearly $200 million since 2008 — and Pelotonia just pledged another $102 million. Ohio State's Pelotonia Fellowship program gives students opportunities to advance their groundbreaking research.

July 26, 2019

Page content

Evie Goodyear

In addition to conducting cancer research as part of her Pelotonia Fellowship, Evie Goodyear will be riding the 25-mile course in this year's Pelotonia.
Gallery image 1
Evie Goodyear, who lost two grandparents to cancer, always knew she wanted to work in cancer research.
Gallery image 2

In addition to conducting cancer research as part of her Pelotonia Fellowship, Evie Goodyear will be riding the 25-mile course in this year's Pelotonia.

Evie Goodyear, who lost two grandparents to cancer, always knew she wanted to work in cancer research.

As a biology major, Evie Goodyear gravitated toward working in Ohio State’s Wu Lab because of its emphasis on cancer research. She has a close personal connection to the subject.

“Two of my grandparents passed away from cancer, and I always knew I wanted to do something related to cancer research,” said Goodyear, one of this year’s Pelotonia fellows. “I’m excited to ride in the Pelotonia race for those same reasons.”

Through her research, Goodyear hopes to identify a new target for antifungal medications for immunocompromised cancer patients. Cancer patients are left vulnerable to fungal infection, and many drug-resistant infections have emerged in recent years. Meanwhile, antifungal drug development has largely stalled since the 1990s.

Goodyear is applying to MD and MD-PhD programs in the hopes of becoming a physician-scientist who practices while continuing to do cancer research.

In that way, she’s the ideal Pelotonia fellow. For program director Rosa Lapalombella, the biggest fellowship success stories are projects that spark a lifelong interest in cancer research. “We love to see people stay in cancer research and follow the progression of their career,” Lapalombella said.