Marina Kozak, PhD Friends of Cancer Research

Marina Kozak serves as a Science Policy Analyst at Friends of Cancer Research (Friends), a cancer research think tank and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Working with the entire cancer research and advocacy community, Friends pioneers innovative public‐private partnerships, organizes critical policy forums, educates the public, and brings together key stakeholders to overcome the barriers standing between patients and the most promising cancer treatments.

Prior to joining Friends, Dr. Kozak was an AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Science and Technology Policy Fellow. As a Fellow, Dr. Kozak served as an interdisciplinary scientist at Health and Human Services in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. There, she drove policies for effective medical countermeasure development and use in response to chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear incidents or emerging infectious disease, such as influenza.

Dr. Kozak received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Cell and Molecular Biology with a focus on Cell Growth and Cancer. Her thesis work investigated the mechanism by which changes in telomeres, the ends of chromosomes, may contribute to age-related pathologies and cancer. After completing her thesis, Dr. Kozak completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute working to elucidate the signaling networks involved in defective DNA repair mechanisms that can drive tumorigenesis. Her scientific expertise lies in genetics, molecular biology, and immunology.