Ken Wright

Dr. Wright serves as the Associate Center Director of Research Education and Training at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. He is also a member of the Research Executive Committee (REX) and serves as Chair of the Research Institute Steering Committee (RISC). As a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, education and training has always been a fundamental part of Moffitt's core mission and is even more important under the current Cancer Center Support Grant guidelines.

As ACD of Research Education & Training, Dr. Wright provides senior leadership in overseeing and coordinating all research education programs across a continuum of participants, from elementary school to faculty. This includes leadership of the academic enterprise in partnership with the Chief Academic Officer (CAO); community education in partnership with the ACD of Community Outreach, Engagement & Equity (COEE); clinical research education in partnership with the ACD of Clinical Science; and collaboration with all CCSG Programs and the Centers of Excellence (COE) of the Cancer Center. He is also responsible for the Cancer Research Training & Education Coordination (CRTEC) component of the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG).
Through the Research Education & Training (RET) Office, Dr. Wright also oversees the numerous research education training activities for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and for postdoctoral fellows. Along with the other ACDs, Dr. Wright is also responsible for faculty mentoring.

He has been successful and productive in guiding his own NIH funded research laboratory for the past 21 years, and has an established track record and demonstrated commitment to education and training. Dr. Wright's research is highly collaborative with interactions across the Cancer Center programs and multiple institutions, nationally and internationally. He is currently the PI of a National Cancer Institute funded U54 PACHE Partnership grant, which supports the advancement of cancer precision medicine research centered on the Hispanic/Latino population.
His laboratory research interests focus on understanding the molecular and epigenetic vulnerabilities in hematologic malignancies including B cell lymphoma, myeloproliferative neoplasms, and myelodysplastic syndromes. His research has helped reveal new potential therapeutic targets and therapeutic combinations.
Dr. Wright is personally committed to education and training as evidenced by his role as the Director of the highly successful USF/Moffitt Cancer Biology PhD program since 2002 and his recent establishment of the Moffitt Research Education and Training office to advance career development across the continuum of cancer careers. Dr. Wright has directly mentored 40 trainees in his laboratory.

Dr. Wright received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Florida and a doctorate degree in Cell Biology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He then trained in Molecular Immunology as a post-doctoral fellow at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina. He joined the University of South Florida and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center Immunology Program in 1997. He has risen to Senior Member in the Immunology Department at the Cancer Center and Professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences at the University of South Florida.