Erika Derek Britain

A Request for Stories

Erika (Derek) Britain, Ph.D., was taken from this earth far too soon at the age of 34, after a brief but courageous battle with young-onset colorectal cancer. Her diagnosis and passing came as a shock, as Erika was vibrant, healthy, and full of life.

Her loss has left an immeasurable void in our hearts. As we try to honor her life and the love she gave so freely, we are gathering every story, moment, photo, video, and memory we can — big or small. Even simple messages to her or a thought means so much. Whether you knew her well, knew her as a colleague, or met her only once, your memories and words matter deeply to us.

Please take a moment to share them by clicking the button below. They are a comfort to us and a powerful way to honor her life and keep her spirit alive!

When sharing, please feel free to use whichever name or pronouns feel most natural to you — Erika or Derek, she/her or he/him. Erika was understanding and compassionate; she would simply be grateful to be remembered with love.

If you would rather share privately, please use the contact us form at the bottom of the page. This site is run by Erika's family and they will get your message directly.

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Regarding the Name Erika

Earlier this year, 2025, Dr. Britain, known to many of us as Derek, shared with her family that she had been experiencing gender dysphoria and was in the process of figuring things out. She asked for space and time to do so, which her family honored.

Tragically, she went into the hospital before her full transition.

After being diagnosed with tumor lysis syndrome, she moved to the ICU. It was at that time Erika declared publically that her name is Erika, and her pronouns are she/her.

This was the last, great declaration she made during her life. For the final several days of her life, she was addressed by the proper name and pronouns that align with her identiy since birth

As we remember Dr. Britain, we invite you to use whichever name and pronouns feel most natural to you, Erika or Derek, she/her or he/him.

Erika’s compassion and understanding touched everyone who knew her. She would want each of us to remember her in the way that feels most true. We all remember the love, laughter, and kindness she brought into our lives and see the light she left behind.

Remembering Erika

Erika Britain, Ph.D., was a brilliant, young soul whose warmth and adventurous spirit, brought joy to everyone who knew her. Her sharp mind, her laughter, her wit, and her extreme kindness will always be remembered by family, friends, and colleagues.

Born June 6, 1991, Erika, the youngest of the Britain children, excelled academically, musically, and artistically from an early age. She could often be found playing video games with her dad and siblings – Secret of Mana was a favorite with her sister Elayne, reading a book, or picking out a tune on her guitar. Often quiet, Erika had an enormous heart and a gentle presence that drew others in, a trait which could be felt not just by her human family, but by animals too. The family’s many cats and dogs each claimed their own special bond with her, as if they all knew she was one of the good ones.

As Science Team captain of the Stanwood High School's Science Olympiad team, she was occupied building balsa wood bridges and competed in many other science events, earning her many regional, state, and national medals. She also earned many other state awards, competing on the high school’s Hi-Q (as state champions!) and Knowledge Bowl teams. She also played on the high school tennis and History Day teams. Another highlight was the summer trip she took to Germany with the high school German club and stayed in family homes.

Along with her friends, Jimmy and Christy, Erika found a way to harness the energy of naturally occurring ocean waves off the coast of her Camano Island home, taking home the top Technology Challenge award in a science competition at Washington State University. They also earned a semi-finalist designation in the prestigious national Siemens Science Competition, the nation’s premier science research competition for high school students.

Graduating as Valedictorian for the class of 2010, Erika was accepted to many colleges, including the Ivy League, ultimately choosing to go to the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!!), for their robust science program, earning many scholarships, including the Washington NASA Space Grant.

At UW, Erika joined a Bioengineering lab under Dr. Deok-Ho Kim, where she created a novel cell culture device that combined a nano-patterned substrate with a microfluidic gradient system for the organization of stem cells into cardiac tissue grafts. Her efforts resulted in her first published citation as a college freshman, which can still be found on the NIH PubMed website today.

From what she learned with her culture device, she became fascinated with how the stem cells were able to sense and respond to the substrate and chemotaxic gradient. Erika continued to pursue her interest, and at the start of her junior year, joined Dr. Roger Brent’s lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where, using budding yeast as a model organism, Erika researched how cells gather information from their environment, how this information is processed by the cell, and how a cell makes a decision based on the results. She also investigated the role microtubule end binding proteins play in signal transmission and fidelity as well as mutant forms of these proteins found in the human population. This work earned Erika the Levinson Scholarship for the 2013-2014 school year. A prestige awarded to only seven students that year to support promising students who work on creative and sophisticated research projects in biosciences and related fields.

After Erika obtained double bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry and Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering, she took a gap year where she continued to work at Fred Hutichenson Cancer Research Center, and took the time to pursue another passion: the great outdoors.

Erika loved nature and the physical pursuits of outdoor recreation, a trait she inherited from her mom, Susan. she also enjoyed fishing on the Columbia River and crabbing in Utsalady Bay with her dad, Jerry. You could always find her hiking and biking in the more favorable months, and snow skiing in the winter months. She often could be found biking to and from work, and rode twice with her mom in the annual Seattle-to-Portland (STP) bike ride event. Her last summer before grad school, Erika solo-hiked much of the beautiful, Pacific Crest Trail, also known as the PCT. She would have hiked the entire Washington trail, if not for being waylaid by wildfires. She also solo-hiked across the Olympic Mountains. Erika took many other day and overnight backpacking trips up into the Cascade mountains alone and with friends and roommates, as well as to Yellowstone National Park, Badlands National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, Black Hills National Park, and many others. In winter, she could be found skiing backcountry and the black-diamond runs, leaving her dad alone to run the bunny slopes. Stevens Pass, Mount Baker and South Lake Tahoe were some favorites.

In 2017, Erika made her way south to the Bay Area to attend the University of California San Francisco, (UCSF), earning the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Scholarship (ARCS). Erika worked under her academic advisor, Orion Weiner, and was often found researching in her lab at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF. A master at juggling many responsibilities at a time, she often traveled many miles straight to the lab after family social gatherings, to “feed her pets” (i.e. her research cells). She also joined family Zoom calls on the weekend from the lab. During her graduate school tenure, she published many papers including in the prestigious Journal of Cell Biology.

During her time as a graduate student, Erika met the love of her life, Shohini Sen, also a graduate student studying Chemistry. They married under the beautiful rotunda at San Francisco City Hall in January of 2018.

Erika and Shohini shared a beautiful, fun life together, hiking, camping, skiing, and watching the Buffalo Bills on the couch at home. They enjoyed beer and wine tasting together and enjoyed exploring and sampling all that the viticulture of the East Bay has to offer.

Another passion of Erika’s was exploring the bold, vibrant flavors of Indian cuisine. However, the chefs at her local restaurants didn’t believe Erika could handle the full five-star spices she craved. So, she often had to leave it to Shohini to place the order, as she had the credibility to get the proper heat level. Despite her best efforts to prove her spice tolerance, Erika was forever stuck with being pegged in the "bland-but-safe" category at her local restaurants!

Recently, Erika and Shohini opened their home to a new family member, a sweet kitty they named Bear! Bear unfortunately cannot see well, so Erika spent time engineering cat paths and kitty play toys that make noise so Bear can participate fully in feline life!

Erika also spent time watching sporting events, following the Buffalo Bills, the Seahawks, the University of Washington Huskies, and the San Jose Sharks. Whenever the Dawgs were in town, or the Sharks were in the playoff, you could find her cheering loudly with her sister, Nicole (UW ’07), from the sidelines! Even football was a joy. One year, she finished the STP with her mother in Portland, and immediately ran off from the finish line to see Germany win the World Cup Final!

Dr. Britain earned her Ph.D. in Biophysics from UCSF in the year 2021, her thesis entitled, Kinetic Proofreading In T Cell Activation Is Distributed Across Multiple Membrane Proximal Signaling Complexes, can be read on escholarship.org.

After completing her postdoctoral work at UCSF, Dr. Britain moved into the private medical industry. Most recently, she worked for a bio-pharmaceutical company, Renasant Bio, which had just emerged from “stealth” mode. There, she developed bespoke cell-based assays for drug screening and led company-wide data analysis and management. Promoted to senior scientist, Dr. Britain helped to design a revolutionary medication for polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a deadly genetic condition with few available treatments.

In every cell she studied, in every discovery she contributed to, Erika left a mark that will continue to guide the hands and minds of researchers for years to come. Her work lives on—not just in labs, journals, and treatments—but in the hope it brings to patients and families who may one day benefit from her life’s dedication.

Her spirit now soars across the mountain ranges she once hiked, whispers in the wind along the Pacific Crest Trail, and is in every sunset like the ones she loved to watch during her adventures.