# Stephen C. Frederico

Stephen C. Frederico (born in Rochester, New York) is an American medical researcher and physician-in-training known for his work in neuro-oncology, particularly in the study of brain tumor immunotherapy and targeted therapies for pediatric brain cancers.

## Education

Frederico completed his Bachelor of Arts in Biology at the College of Charleston in 2019. He subsequently earned a Master of Science in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University in 2021. Currently, Frederico is pursuing a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.
During his medical studies, he was awarded the Medical Scholars Research Fellowship by the American Society for Clinical Investigation, facilitating a two-year research fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Between 2023 and 2025, he also completed a Master of Medical Science in Clinical Investigation (MMSCI) at Harvard Medical School.

## Research

Frederico's research career commenced at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where he focused on designing nanoparticles for targeted chemotherapy delivery to glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. He later received a Cancer Research Training Award from the National Institutes of Health, concentrating on immune-based therapies for brain tumors, particularly gliomas.
His research encompasses characterizing the tumor microenvironment, developing adoptive cell transfer immunotherapies, and identifying novel antigens for immunotherapeutic targeting. At Dana-Farber, Frederico's thesis investigated the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) to treat Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG), a severe pediatric brain cancer, identifying repurposed drugs that, when combined with these inhibitors, enhanced treatment efficacy.

### Publications

| Title | Authors | Journal name | Publication date |
| Making a cold tumor hot: the role of vaccines in the treatment of glioblastoma | Stephen C Frederico*, John C Hancock*, Emily ES Brettschneider, Nivedita M Ratnam, Mark R Gilbert, Masaki Terabe | Frontiers in Oncology | 2021/5/10 |
| Reversing epigenetic gene silencing to overcome immune evasion in CNS malignancies | Nivedita M Ratnam, Heather M Sonnemann, Stephen C Frederico, Huanwen Chen, Marsha-Kay ND Hutchinson, Tyrone Dowdy, Caitlin M Reid, Jinkyu Jung, Wei Zhang, Hua Song, Meili Zhang, Dionne Davis, Mioara Larion, Amber J Giles, Mark R Gilbert | Frontiers in Oncology | 2021/7/15 |
| Clinical correlates for immune checkpoint therapy: significance for CNS malignancies | Nivedita M Ratnam*, Stephen C Frederico*, Javier A Gonzalez, Mark R Gilbert | Neuro-Oncology Advances | 2021/1 |
| Pre-clinical models for evaluating glioma targeted immunotherapies | Stephen C Frederico, Xiaoran Zhang, Baoli Hu, Gary Kohanbash | Frontiers in Immunology | 2023 |
| Exploring the origin of the cancer stem cell niche and its role in anti-angiogenic treatment for glioblastoma | Funto A Akindona, Stephen C Frederico, John C Hancock, Mark R Gilbert | Frontiers in Oncology | 2022/8/25 |
| Myeloid cells as potential targets for immunotherapy in pediatric gliomas | Stephen C Frederico, Nikhil Sharma, Corbin Darling, Suchet Taori, Alexandra C Dubinsky, Xiaoran Zhang, Itay Raphael, Gary Kohanbash | Frontiers in Pediatrics | 2024/3/8 |

## Awards and Recognition

Frederico's contributions to cancer research have been recognized through several awards, including:
* Medical Scholars Research Fellowship, American Society for Clinical Investigation
* Jack & Fay Netchin Medical Student Fellowship, American Brain Tumor Association
* Hillman Medical Student Fellowship for Innovative Cancer Research, Henry L. Hillman Foundation
* Daily Point of Light Award, Points of Light Foundation
* Outstanding Student of the Year Award, College of Charleston