Innovate Fellow

Cailin Kellum is currently enrolled in the joint Ph.D./MBA program at UAB in the Immunology Theme. She earned her bachelor's degree in Biochemistry with a minor in Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her interests lie in studying immunological-based interventions and mechanisms of inflammatory damage. Cailin approaches science though a multidisciplinary and translational angle, combining her interests at the intersection of the bench, the bedside and business. She was interested in the Innovate Fellow program because she believes taking innovative ideas to market quickly can transform the lives of patients.

Her current research work focuses on the effects of Early Life Stress, including childhood abuse, on the development of cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. She was selected as a PROmoTE Scholar as part of a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases-funded training program. As a PROmoTE Scholar, she was part of a group of pre-matriculating Ph.D. and M.D. students who had the opportunity to work with a team of mentors on a kidney-focused research summer project.

In addition, she has been awarded National Institutes of Health training grants for her ongoing research. Cailin has presented her work at several international conferences and recently won the Water & Electrolyte Homeostasis Research Recognition Award at Experimental Biology 2022. In her free time, she enjoys hiking with her dog FrootLoop and reading science fiction and poetry.