Daniele Gilkes, PhD, joined the Moffitt team in 2003, pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy in the Cancer Biology PhD Program. Dr. Gilkes was awarded the USF Presidential Fellowship, the most prestigious fellowship offered by the University of South Florida. Dr. Gilkes trained with Dr. Jiandong Chen focusing her research on tumor suppressor proteins and produced seven scientific publications.

Daniele Gilkes In 2009, she began a postdoctoral position at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Gregg Semenza, MD, PhD, and was co-mentored by the Vice Provost of Research, Denis Wirtz. Her research focus moved from the tumor suppressor, p53, to the oncogenes, HIF1 and HIF2 and the study of oxygen regulation in the tumor microenvironment.

In 2015, she accepted a position at Johns Hopkins University as an Assistant Professor of Oncology with a co-appointment in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department. Her work has been funded both by government sources and foundation support and was recently published in Nature Communications as senior author entitled, "Fate-mapping Post-Hypoxic Tumor Cells Reveals a ROS-resistant Phenotype That Promotes Metastasis." She is also the founding scientific director for the Women’s Malignancy Advocacy program for Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Gilkes also wanted to add a thank you to Dr. Ken Wright for all of his support and willingness to take on a student who did not have a strong biology background. "The Cancer Biology PhD Program was really the first of its kind and has been emulated by many," Dr. Gilkes wrote, "A big thank you to Dr. Jiandong Chen for his thoughtful and unwavering scientific guidance and personal support. He gave me so many opportunities to learn. I hope I will be as great of a mentor as they have been to me."

Where Are They Now

Dr. Gilkes Hopes to Emulate Her Mentors at Moffitt

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