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Professor Irene Guttilla Reed, chair of the University of Saint Joseph’s Biology department, is working to unlock the cellular mysteries behind cancer — and a new fellowship will help accelerate that work.
On Sept. 3, USJ welcomed President Emeritus Pamela Trotman Reid back to campus to present Professor Reed with the inaugural Dr. Pamela Trotman Reid Fellowship in Science, an honor that supports faculty research while creating hands-on learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
Created by USJ President Emerita Dr. Pamela Trotman Reid and her husband, Irvin D. Reid, the fellowship provides biennial funding for a faculty member in the departments of Biology, Chemistry, or Pharmaceutical Sciences.
It gives me great pleasure to join in acknowledging Dr. Irene Reed’s contributions to science and to her students. Her impressive work in the field of cancer research lays the groundwork for major advances in women’s health while she simultaneously encourages, trains, and inspires future researchers.
President Emeritus Pamela Trotman Reid
During her 2008-15 tenure as USJ president, Reid guided a period of significant growth at the University, including the development and successful launch of the School of Pharmacy, USJ’s first professional doctoral program.
The fellowship will allow Reed to expand her research into the molecular mechanisms that contribute to cancer progression and metastasis, with a particular focus on cancers that primarily affect women.
For more than 15 years, Reed has mentored USJ students in research. Her work focuses on epithelial-mesenchymal transition, or EMT, a cellular process associated with cancer progression and the spread of cancer throughout the body.
Through the fellowship, Reed will expand her research from breast and endometrial cancers to include ovarian cancer. She and her student researchers will test the effects of several novel and naturally derived compounds on EMT, seeking a deeper understanding of how cancer progresses and spreads. Two undergraduate students and one graduate student will participate in the research.
I am honored and humbled to receive the inaugural Dr. Pamela Trotman Reid Faculty Fellowship. I have been mentoring USJ students in research for more than 15 years, and this fellowship reflects my ongoing commitment to training the next generation of scientists.
Irene Reed
The fellowship, she said, will allow her to broaden the scope of her research across breast, uterine and ovarian cancers.
“By testing both novel and naturally derived compounds across a variety of cancers that primarily affect women, we hope to better understand how cancer progresses and spreads,” Reed said.
A prolific scholar and researcher, Reed has built an extensive record of publications and success in securing funding to support her work, including a $649,650 National Science Foundation S-STEM grant in 2018.
Her contributions as both a researcher and educator have earned her USJ’s two highest faculty honors: the Reverend John J. Stack Teaching Excellence Award in 2018 and the Sister Mary Ellen Murphy Faculty Scholarship Award in 2025.
Now, as the inaugural Reid Faculty Fellow, Reed will continue pursuing answers to some of cancer’s most complex questions — while giving the next generation of researchers the opportunity to help discover them.