Running his race: St. Jude survivor goes from patient to researcher

Evan Moore was a 20-year-old elite track and cross-country athlete in the summer of 2023 when he noticed something was off. Moore’s running performance had taken a major hit – and while he first attributed it to lack of motivation, high-altitude training, and a hamstring injury that wouldn’t heal, there was something else that was cause for concern: a swollen lymph node in his neck. 

While the first two biopsies came back normal, a third biopsy confirmed he had a rare case of asymptomatic Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In general, Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in adolescents and young adults. But Moore didn’t experience the typical fever, night sweats, and unexplained weight loss that normally accompany the disease. 

Moore qualified for a study at St. Jude due to his age and the stage of his cancer (stage 2A – A for asymptomatic). While the prognosis for stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma is very good, treatments such as radiation can cause adverse health effects later in life. The cHOD17 clinical trial led by Matthew Ehrhardt, MD, MS, Departments of Oncology and Epidemiology and Cancer Control aims to determine if less aggressive treatments can cure the cancer without causing these so called “late effects.” 

“Dr. Ehrhardt told me the plan was to start with chemo and then, at the two-month mark, if I didn’t have any cancer left, I wouldn’t have to do radiation. If you go anywhere else, radiation is not optional; it’s protocol,” Moore recalled. “St. Jude is looking at my health 20 to 30, or even 50 years down the road, not just right now. That was a huge deal to me.”

“I never lost my hair completely, and I think because of my health prior, being a distance runner, my body was prepared for something really hard,” Moore said.

A self-described “nerd” Moore was already interested in research when he was diagnosed. While those plans were on hold while receiving treatment, Moore is now in full remission, and the cancer is not expected to return. He may be done with treatment, but St. Jude, with its world-class research enterprise, still had more to offer. Moore spent the summer of 2025 interning in the laboratory of Victor Torres, PhD, Department of Host-Microbe Interactions chair. His summer project looked at the infectious disease–causing bacterium methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and how it interacts with the immune system.

Reflecting on his diagnosis, Moore stated, “It is definitely an interesting experience, but the first thing I tell people is that I wouldn’t take it back. I’m a better person because of it. I’m where I’m at right now, sitting here in this research lab, because of that experience. So, there are good things to come out of it.”

As for his running, Moore happily reported, “I'm in the best shape of my life. I ran at nationals this last track season and was top 20 in the country for the 1500-meter event in Division 2. I’m doing better than I was before.”