Moffitt Cancer Center Honors Faculty Members and Achievements

February 22, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. – Moffitt Cancer Center has honored two employees for their outstanding accomplishments in the medical and scientific fields.

John V. Kiluk, M.D., F.A.C.S., an assistant member in the Don and Erika Wallace Comprehensive Breast Program, was named 2011 Physician of the Year during the Moffitt Faculty Appreciation and Recognition ceremony on Feb. 9.

Kiluk is a surgical oncologist, and one of his areas of expertise is treating men with breast cancer. He is on the board of directors and is the education chairman of the Florida Suncoast Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. Kiluk also serves on the medical advisory board of the John W. Nick Foundation for male breast cancer.

Anna R. Giuliano, Ph.D., a senior member in the Department of Cancer Epidemiology and director of the Center for Infection Research in Cancer, has been named 2011 Researcher of the Year.

Giuliano’s research interests include HPV natural history and progression to cancer, newly identified viruses and cancer, and evaluation of vaccine approach to cancer prevention. She recently conducted the HPV Infection in Men (HIM) study, a multinational natural history study awarded through the Program Announcement for Cancer Cohort Studies. Giuliano also is funded by the V Foundation to investigate the hypothesis of a viral contribution to the etiology of some lung cancers. In addition to her molecular epidemiology studies, she is the local principal investigator of the Phase III International Quadrivalent HPV Vaccine Trial Among Men and the 9-Valent Phase III International Trial Among Women. Both are funded by Merck.

Additional Achievement Awards:

2011 Educator of the Year: Thomas H. Brandon, Ph.D.

Brandon is the Chair and Program Leader of the Department of Health Outcomes & Behavior. He is a recognized leader in the study and treatment of tobacco dependence. His team has made substantial and significant contributions to the basic understanding of tobacco dependence and its treatment and is active in the Tampa Bay community and throughout Florida through tobacco control programs. Brandon is heavily involved in the training of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, the majority of whom have assumed faculty appointments at universities and cancer centers throughout the United States.

Junior Faculty Research Awards

Clinical Science: Joseph Pidala, M.D., assistant member, Blood & Marrow Transplant
Basic & Population Science: Keiran Smalley, Ph.D., assistant member, Molecular Oncology

Excellence in Safety Award: Ricardo Gonzalez, M.D., assistant member, Sarcoma

Top Publication Awards

Clinical Investigations: Jonathan Strosberg, M.D., assistant member, Gastrointestinal Oncology
Population Science: Anna Giuliano, Ph.D., senior member, Cancer Epidemiology
Basic Science: Saïd Sebti, Ph.D., senior member and chair, Drug Discovery

Most Cited Faculty Member: Jeffrey Weber, M.D., Ph.D., senior member, Cutaneous Oncology

Team Publication Awards

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, December 2011, Dung-Tsa Chen, Ph.D., Domenico Coppola, M.D., W. Douglas Cress, Ph.D., Eric Haura, M.D., and Timothy Yeatman, M.D.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, February 2011, Srikumar Chellappan, Ph.D., Domenico Coppola, M.D., and Eric Haura, M.D.

Patents

The following faculty members were recognized for issued patents received:

Saïd Sebti, Ph.D. – generation of novel RhoB variants that inhibit tumor growth and induce tumor cell death
Wayne Guida, Ph.D., Harshani Lawrence, Ph.D., Nicholas Lawrence, Ph.D., and Saïd Sebti, Ph.D. – a novel chemical probe inhibitor of Stat3 that induces antitumor cell activity through structure based high throughput virtual screening
Steven Eschrich, Ph.D., Javier Torres-Roca, M.D., and Timothy Yeatman, M.D. – a research tool that can be used to identify pathways and novel markers associated with radiation response. The invention also can be used as a predictor of the likelihood a tumor will respond to radiation therapy
William S. Dalton, Ph.D., M.D., and Timothy Yeatman, M.D. – computer systems and methods for selecting subjects for clinical trials

Licensed Intellectual Property

The following inventors were recognized for licensed agreements in 2011:

James Barthel, M.D. – an intellectual property agreement with Merit Medical Systems Inc. for an esophageal stent and methods for use
Kiran Mahajan, Ph.D., and Nupam Mahajan, Ph.D. – an exclusive license agreement with TechnoGenesys Inc. for a clinical diagnostic test for measuring AKT
Johnathan Lancaster, M.D., Ph.D. – an intellectual property agreement with OvaGene Oncology Inc. for a microRNA molecular signature for predicting response to ovarian cancer therapies

About Moffitt Cancer Center

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Located in Tampa, Moffitt Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a description that recognizes Moffitt’s excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt is also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country’s leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” for cancer.

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