Voluntary Self-Identification of Veteran Status

Fred Hutch is a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended by the Job for Veterans Act 2002, 38 U.S.C. 4212 (VEVRAA), which requires government contractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment of (1) disabled veterans; (2) recently separated veterans; (3) active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans; and (4) Armed Forces service medal veterans. These classifications are defined as follows:

• Disabled Veteran includes any veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who: (a) is entitled to compensation, or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation under laws administered by the Secretary of Veteran Affairs, or (b) was discharged or released from active duty because of service-connected disability.

• Recently Separated Veteran includes any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service.

• Active Duty Wartime or Campaign Badge Veteran includes any veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service in a war, campaign or expedition in which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

• Armed Forces Service Medal Veteran includes any veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United State military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

As a Government contractor subject to VEVRAA, we are required to submit a report to the United States Department of Labor each year identifying the number of our applicants belonging to these categories. We request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of our outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA.

Protected veterans may have additional rights under USERRA - the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. In particular, if you were absent from employment in order to perform service in the uniformed service, you may be entitled to be reemployed by your employer in the position you would have obtained with reasonable certainty if not for the absence due to service. For more information, call the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS), toll-free, at 1-866-4-USA-DOL.

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305                                                                                                                    OMB Control Number: 1250-0005

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Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor required by law to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We are also required to measure our progress toward having at least 7% of our workforce be individuals with disabilities. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had a disability. Because a person may become disabled at any time, we ask all of our employees to update their information at least every five years.

Identifying yourself as an individual with a disability is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer will be maintained confidentially and not be seen by selecting officials or anyone else involved in making personnel decisions. Completing the form will not negatively impact you in any way, regardless of whether you have self-identified in the past. For more information about this form or the equal employment obligations of federal contractors under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or records of such impairment or medical condition. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

In the PS2@FH program, each Partner teacher will conduct biomedical research in partnership with a Mentor scientist. The Mentor scientist may be a faculty member, post-doc, staff scientist, graduate student, or other member of the host lab. Please read through the descriptions of host labs and research projects for 2026. Also visit the linked web pages within each lab description.

Rank your preference for each host lab, from 1 (most interested) to 3 (least interested). Please briefly explain your ranking for all three labs. Note that we cannot guarantee placement in these labs, but this will help us understand your interests and preferences.

Barry Lab:
Kevin C. Barry, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutch. Dr. Barry studies how the immune system recognizes and responds to cancer. He aims to determine how innate immune cells recognize cancer and regulate immune responses to it. Dr. Barry previously identified a novel set of immune cells that regulate immune responses that protect patients from melanoma. The number of these cells in a patient’s tumor can identify those patients who will benefit the most from immunotherapy. Dr. Barry and his team are learning more about the signals that control this set of innate immune cells in cancer. His goal is to generate novel therapies to increase cancer-killing immune responses and save lives from cancer. Dr. Barry has previously hosted a high school science teacher in his lab who investigated the regulation and function of Flt3L isoforms in melanoma tumor cells. He plans for a Partner teacher to continue this exciting new direction of research. Explore the Barry Lab website.

Malik Lab:
Harmit Malik, PhD is Professor and Associate Director of the Basic Sciences Division at Fred Hutch. Dr. Malik studies genetic conflict, the competition between genes and proteins with opposing functions that drives evolutionary change. His research could have implications for various diseases, from HIV to cancer. As part of this work, his team developed an approach for identifying genes that divide one species from another, which could help solve the riddle of how new species evolve. Dr. Malik also studies the evolutionary processes that drive our body’s interactions with viruses, including contemporary scourges like HIV, as well as ancient viruses whose fossils litter our genome. With Fred Hutch colleagues, he has characterized the rapidly evolving interface between proteins on human cells and viruses that make us sick. This work has highlighted surprising deviations from “textbook” models of these interactions, revealing gene variants that could influence our susceptibility to infection. Dr. Malik has previously hosted a high school science teacher in his lab who investigated an Iris-like domesticated viral gene in mosquitoes and other non-dipteran insects. Explore the Malik Lab website.

Salama Lab:
Nina Salama, PhD is Senior Vice President of Education, Professor in the Human Biology and Public Health Sciences Divisions, and Affiliate Professor in the Basic Sciences Divisions at Fred Hutch. Dr. Salama studies Helicobacter pylori, a stomach bacteria that infects half the world’s population and is associated with ulcers and gastric cancer. Her team found that H. pylori’s unique corkscrew shape allows the bacteria to colonize the stomach by burrowing into the mucus lining, where it is protected from the acidic environment. They found a set of key proteins responsible for the bacteria’s twisty form. H. pylori that lacks these proteins cannot effectively colonize the stomach, making these proteins possible new drug targets to prevent infection. Dr. Salama is trying to understand why only some people infected with H. pylori develop stomach cancer, and how genetic variations in the bacteria affect human disease and transmission. She also works to understand how a person’s immune response to the bacteria influences the course of their infection. Dr. Salama has previously hosted two science teachers (here and here) in her lab who explored how point mutations on the N-terminus of CCmA regulate H. pylori cell shape. This line of research will be continued by a Partner teacher. Explore the Salama Lab website.

Rank your preferences for a host lab below.