On the Cancer Research Frontier: Dr. Brie Chun, Principal Investigator and Physician

On the Cancer Research Frontier is a series spotlighting the scientists, doctors, nurses, patients, and philanthropists at the Cancer Vaccine Institute. Join us in meeting the brilliant minds behind our cancer vaccines and immunotherapies as they share their professional journeys and personal stories.

“If you have truly found something that compels you to work really hard, that can carry you in a huge way.”

Dr. Brie Chun wears many hats: researcher, physician, climber, and mother. As a Principal Investigator at the Cancer Vaccine Institute (CVI) and a physician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, she spends her days shaping the future of breast cancer treatment while caring for others in the present. 

Dr. Chun has always had an interest in medicine and women’s health, even considering a career in obstetrics and gynecology. It wasn’t until her second year in residency that she realized oncology was the right fit. She credits her mentor, a breast cancer physician who specialized in immunotherapy, for helping shape her career in immunology and cancer research.

“Once you have someone like that in your life, they really will be there for you across different stages,” she says. “That was a big factor for me: they believed in me.”

That mentorship helped open the door to a growing fascination with immunology and cancer research. Between her residency and fellowship, Dr. Chun studied peripheral T-cell blood populations, an experience that sparked a deeper interest in research.

“It was exciting to use a different part of my brain,” she recalls.

What began as curiosity gradually evolved into a passion for answering scientific questions and translating those answers into better care for patients. Today, much of that work centers on cancer immunotherapy.

“It offers a tantalizing prospect for patients where you can potentially treat people more effectively for longer and with less toxic therapies than chemo alone.”

At the heart of Dr. Chun's research is a simple but powerful question: Why do some patients benefit from immunotherapy while others do not?

She often explains it this way to patients: under normal circumstances, the immune system should be able to recognize and eliminate abnormal cells before they become cancer. But when cancer develops, the immune system may become confused or unable to respond effectively. Her research seeks to better understand that process and determine how treatments affect the immune system over time.

Dr. Chun’s goal is to develop better tools that can help physicians understand which patients are most likely to respond to specific immunotherapies, allowing treatments to be tailored not only to the cancer itself, but also to the individual patient’s immune system.

Dr. Brie Chun at the 2026 ASCO Meeting

Her recent work focuses on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most challenging breast cancer subtypes to treat. While major advances have transformed outcomes for some forms of breast cancer, TNBC remains an area where significant unmet needs persist. 

For Dr. Chun, these challenges represent opportunities. The complexity of TNBC continues to fuel her curiosity and determination.

Dr. Chun is most excited to delve deeper into “immune fitness,” or what makes an immune system more or less responsive to treatment, and how that knowledge can help lower recurrence rates, particularly in TNBC patients. 

Receiving the 2024 Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award and her appointment as a Principal Investigator at the CVI signal the start of Dr. Chun’s growing impact in the field. She is currently leading a clinical trial of STEMVAC for metastatic TNBC, pushing forward new possibilities in breast cancer immunotherapy.

While fully committed to breast cancer research, Dr. Chun also makes time to stay active with climbing and bike rides with her son—small moments that balance a career centered on advancing cancer immunotherapy.

As immunotherapy continues to transform cancer care, Dr. Chun is working to ensure that patients with TNBC are part of that future.