
Tawnya C. McKee, Ph.D.
Tawnya C. McKee (BA, Point Loma College) received a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry with Chris Ireland at the University of Utah. She joined the NCI as a postdoc then became a staff scientist in the LDDRD where she led a group of natural products chemists working to identify natural products for the treatment of cancer and/or HIV/AIDS. She developed expertise in high throughput assay development amenable to crude NP extracts. In 2013, Tawnya joined the NCI’s Cancer Diagnosis Program (CDP) in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. As a Program Director in the Diagnostic Biomarkers and Technology Branch, she manages a grant portfolio focused on biomarkers in GU (includes prostate, kidney, bladder, testicular and penile) and Endocrine (thyroid, pituitary) cancers and a variety of technology development initiatives. She also serves as a lead biomarker reviewer in the Clinical Trial Evaluation Program (CTEP) for biomarker assay utilized in protocols for both early- and late-phase clinical trials.
Education
- BA, 1984, Point Loma College
- PhD, 1990, University of Utah