2026
Integrated Program in Cancer and Data Science (ICADS) T32 grant is renewed for September 2026!
2025
Dr. Elsa Flores attends the 2025 Lab Design Conference in Denver, Colorado to present on the Moffitt Discovery & Innovation Center
Read about it here! --> Hope Three Ways: Breaking Down Silos in Cancer Research at Moffitt's New Speros Center
Santanu Adhikary
- Awarded First place, Research in Progress Presentation, Department of Molecular Oncology (Postdoc Category) at Moffitt Cancer Center
Kaitlyn Miranda
- Poster Presentation at the 2025 Moffitt Cancer Engineering Summit - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at the 2025 Moffitt Scientific Symposium - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at the Cancer Nanotechnology Gordon Research Conference - Lucca, Italy
- Received the Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority Fellowship to support attendance to the Gordon Research Conference in Lucca, Italy
Marco Napoli
- Poster Presentation at the International p53/p63/p73 Isoforms Workshop in Cancer and Ageing - Dundee, UK
- Poster Presentation at the 9th Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meeting on Nucleic Acid Therapies - Laurel Hollow, NY
Ashley Lui
- Poster Presentation at the 2025 Moffitt Scientific Symposium - Tampa, FL
- Jacquie Liggett Ovarian Cancer Research Fellowship Recipient
2024
Dr. Elsa Flores
- Speaking engagements at the following organizations
- Bioengineering at Moffitt (BAM) Summit 2024 - Tampa, FL
- Huntsman Cancer Institute at University of Utah - Salt Lake City, UT
- MANA Proteomics Conference - Tampa, FL
Suehelay Acevedo Acevedo
- Poster Presentation at the 2024 Bioengineering at Moffitt (BAM) Cancer Summit - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at the 2024 Moffitt Scientific Symposium - Tampa, FL
- Poster presentation at the 2024 Molecular Oncology Retreat - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at the Keynote Symposia in Tumor Metabolism Conference - Banff, Canada
Avani Deshpande
- Second Place for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for junior scientist category - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: Regulatory & Non-Coding RNAs Conference - Cold Spring Harbor, NY
- Poster Presentation at the AACR: RNAs as Drivers, Targets and Therapeutics in Cancer Conference - Seattle, WA
Ashley Lui
- Poster Presentation at the 2024 Bioengineering at Moffitt (BAM) Cancer Summit - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at the 2024 Moffitt Scientific Symposium - Tampa, FL
- Poster presentation at the 2024 Molecular Oncology Retreat - Tampa, FL
- Oral and Poster Presentation at the AACR: RNAs as Drivers, Targets and Therapeutics in Cancer Conference - Seattle, WA
Kaitlyn Miranda
- Joined the lab as a Graduate Student in the Cancer Biology Program in Fall 2024
- Earned the McKnight Fellow Award
- Earned the NSF BRIDGE to the Doctorate Fellowship award from USF
Marco Napoli
- Received the December 2024 Basic and Clinical Science Lab Staff Award
- Poster Presentation at the 2024 Moffitt Scientific Symposium - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at the 2024 Molecular Oncology Retreat - Tampa, FL
- Poster Presentation at the AACR: RNAs as Drivers, Targets and Therapeutics in Cancer Conference - Seattle, WA
2023
Dr. Elsa Flores
- Speaking engagements at the following organizations
- VCU Massey Cancer Center - Virginia Commonwealth University - Richmond, VA
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center - Columbia University - New York, NY
- University of Arizona - Cancer Engineering Symposium - Tucson, AZ
- Moffitt Regional Event - Boone, NC
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - Harvard Medical School - Boston, MA
- 18th Transgenic Technology Meeting - Opening Keynote Speaker - Houston, TX
Suehelay Acevedo Acevedo
- Poster presentation at the Bioengineering at Moffitt (BAM) Cancer Summit - Tampa, FL
- Poster presentation at Moffitt Scientific Symposium for Basic Science
- Poster presentation finalist at the 10th International MDM2 Workshop - Tokyo, Japan
- Received travel award to attend the 10th International MDM2 Workshop - Tokyo, Japan
- Featured on Spectrum News along with mentee Kaitlyn Miranda discussing the Moffitt ENCOURAGE program
Jaden Baldwin
- promoted to Research Associate II in March
Tina Carr
- Joined the lab in October as a Research Associate II
Avani Deshpande
- Poster presentation at the NCI RNA Biology Symposium - Bethesda, MD
- Third place for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for junior scientist category - Moffitt Cancer Center
John Lockhart
- Paper titled Grading of Lung Adenocarcinomas with Simultaneous Segmentation by Artificial Intelligence (GLASS-AI) published in npj Precision Oncology
- Selected speaker at the 5th Annual North American Mass Spectrometry Sumer School - Madison, WI
- Poster presentation at the Bioengineering at Moffitt (BAM) Cancer Summit - Tampa, FL
Ashley Lui
- Poster presentation at the Bioengineering at Moffitt (BAM) Cancer Summit - Tampa, FL
- Poster presentation at Moffitt Scientific Symposium for Basic Science
Marco Napoli
- Selected speaker at the 10th International MDM2 Workshop - Tokyo, Japan
2022
Dr. Elsa Flores
- Promoted to Associate Center Director of Basic Science
- Speaking engagements at the following organizations
- Mayo Clinic - College of Medicine & Science - Rochester, MN
- MD Anderson - Blaffer Seminar Series Speaker - Houston, TX
- University of Michigan - Cancer Biology Retreat - Ann Arbor, MI
- Moffitt Foundation - Moffitt Research Innovations Event - New York City, NY
- Tulane School of Medicine - Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology - New Orleans, LA
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine - St. Petersburg, FL
Hayley Ackerman
- Third place for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for senior trainees - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Featured Poster Winner at the Moffitt Scientific Symposium for Basic Science
Santanu Adhikary
- Joined the lab in July as a Post-doctoral fellow
Ashley Lui
- Joined the lab in August as a T32 Post-doctoral fellow
John Lockhart
- Third place for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for senior trainees - Moffitt Cancer Center
Marco Napoli
- Second place for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for senior trainees - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Selected speaker at the 2022 Moffitt Cancer Center Scientific Symposium - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Poster presentation at the 18th International p53 workshop - Rehovot, Israel
2021
Dr. Elsa Flores
- RNA Medicine Symposium speaker - "Unveiling therapeutic opportunities to target the p53 pathway in cancer through understanding the regulatory network of lncRNAs" - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- P01 grant application entitled "Identifying Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Lung Cancer" awarded from NCI
Hayley Ackerman
- Silver award for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for senior trainees - Moffitt Cancer Center
Avani Deshpande
- Review titled The Landmark Discovery That Paved the Way to a Mechanistic Understanding of P53 Gain of Function and Personalized Medicine published in Cancer Research
Yifeng Gao
- Joined the lab in August as a post-doc
John Lockhart
- Bronze award for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for senior trainees - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Poster presentation at the Cancer Biology Training Consortium Retreat - Nashville, TN
Marco Napoli
- Review titled The Landmark Discovery That Paved the Way to a Mechanistic Understanding of P53 Gain of Function and Personalized Medicine published in Cancer Research
- Gold award for outstanding presentation in the Molecular Oncology Research in Progress series for senior trainees - Moffitt Cancer Center
Michelle Reiser
- Joined the lab in August as a research project specialist to assist with the PO1
2020
Suehelay Acevedo Acevedo
- Joined the lab as a post-doc in August
Ngoc Hoang Bao Bui - alumni
- Paper titled Spatiotemporal Regulation of ΔNp63 by TGFβ-Regulated miRNAs Is Essential for Cancer Metastasis published in Cancer Research
Andrew Davis - alumni
- Paper titled TAp63-regulated microRNAs suppress cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma through inhibition of a network of cell cycle genes published in Cancer Research
Bethanie Gore
- Joined the lab in March as research project specialist
Marco Napoli
- Molecular Oncology Retreat poster award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Entered into a collaboration with APIS technologies to assess the role of TROLLs as markers of response to chemotherapy - articles available on the "News and Views" page under Publications
- Paper titled Pan-cancer analysis reveals TAp63-regulated oncogenic lncRNAs that promote cancer progression through AKT activation published in Nature Communications
- Promoted to Research Scientist II
2019
Hayley Ackerman
- Cancer Biology & Evolution Symposium poster award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Molecular Oncology Research-In-Progress Seminar Series Junior Trainee Presentation Award - Moffitt Cancer Center
Ngoc Hoang Bao Bui
- "The tumour cell: Plasticity, Progression and Therapy, Nature conference" poster presentation - New York City, NY
Xiaobo Li
- Molecular Oncology Retreat poster award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Invited speaker at Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology - Keystone, CO
- Poster presenter at Hallmarks of Cancer Cell Symposium - Seattle, WA
Marco Napoli
- Molecular Oncology Retreat poster award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Molecular Oncology Research-In-Progress Seminar Series Senior Trainee Presentation Award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Best oral presentation award at the 3rd annual Cancer Biology and Evolution Symposium - Moffitt Cancer Center
Sarah Wu
- Ph.D defense - MD Anderson Cancer Center
2018
Hayley Ackerman
- Molecular Oncology Research-In-Progress Seminar Series Junior Trainee Presentation Award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- 10X Genomics single cell RNA-sequencing pilot grant
Ngoc Hoang Bao Bui
- Cancer Biology and Evolution Symposium Oral presentation award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Molecular Oncology Department Retreat Poster Award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Genetics and Epigenetics Graduate Program Travel Awards, GSBS
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Travel Awards, GSBS
- Ph.D defense - MD Anderson Cancer Center
Andrew Davis
- Molecular Oncology Research-In-Progress presentation award
- 10X Genomics single cell RNA-sequencing pilot grant
- Helmsley Charitable Trust scholar
- Cancer Biology & Evolution poster award - Moffitt Cancer Center
- Ph.D defense - MD Anderson Cancer Center
Ioannis Grammatikakis
- Molecular Oncology Research-In-Progress evaluation excellence award
- 10X Genomics single-cell RNA-sequencing pilot grant
- Best poster award, Molecular Oncology Retreat - Moffitt Cancer Center
Marco Napoli
- "The FEBS Journal" poster prize at 8th International p63/p73 workshop - Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- "Let's talk about UBAUT" travel award to attend 8th International p63/p73 workshop - Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2017
Andrew Davis
- Cancer Biology & Evolution Poster Award
Marco Napoli, PhD
- Invited speaker at the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation – 2017 Sunshine Project Summit - Tampa, FL
- Invited speaker at the 17th International p53 Workshop - Singapore
2016
Marco Napoli, PhD
- MD Anderson Trainee Research Day 2016, AMGEN Award in Basic Science Research
Sarah Wu
- Genes and Development Graduate Program Travel Award
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Travel Award
Ngoc Hoang Bao Bui
- Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship 2015-2016
2015
Elsa Flores, PhD
- NCI Outstanding Investigator Award
Marco Napoli, PhD
- AACR-Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company Scholar-in-Training Award
Sarah Wu
- Genes and Development Graduate Program Travel Award
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Travel Award
- Trainee Research Day 2015 Poster Competition Finalist, Basic Science
Andrew Davis
- American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research
- Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) TL1 Pre-doctoral training program
- Genes and Development & EMC 2015 Fall Retreat Research Poster Award - Post-Candidacy Student Category
2014
Avinash Venkatanarayan
- T.C. Hsu Memorial Award for Cell Biology & Genetics
- Grady Saunders Student Research Achievement Award
- G&D Program Post-Candidacy Poster Award
- MD Anderson Trainee Research Day Oral presentation finalist
Andrew Davis
- American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research
- Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) TL1 Pre-doctoral training program
Ngoc Hoang Bao Bui
- Genes & Development Graduate program pre-candidacy research achievement award
Marco Napoli
- TRIUMPH (Translational Research in Multi disciplinary program) Postdoctoral Fellowship
Hussein Abbas
- Odyssey Recruitment Fellowship
Sarah Wu
- T32 Training Program in Molecular Genetics of Cancer Pre-doctoral Fellow (T32 CA009299)
- Schissler Foundation Fellow for Translational Studies of Common Human Diseases
- Pre-candidacy Student Research Poster Award, GSBS Genes and Development Program Retreat
- Cullen Trust for Higher Education Physician/Scientist Fellowship Program: 2010 – 2014
2013
Elsa Flores
- "Session Chair" – Non-Coding RNAs and roles in cancer 2013 American Association for Cancer Research, Washington D.C.
Sarah Wu
- AAAS/Science Program for Excellence in Science Recipient
Deepavali Chakravarti
- "Oral Presentation" at the 2013 American Association for Cancer Research, Washington D.C.
- "Scholar in Training Award" 2013 American Association for Cancer Research, Washington D.C
- Successfully completed "Ph.D. Dissertation" in May 2013
Avinash Venkatanarayan
- "Oral Presentation" at the 2013 American Association for Cancer Research, Washington D.C.
- UT MD Anderson Press Release about the research talk at 2013 AACR Meeting
- Study finds key to calling back-up help when tumor-fighter p53 goes down
Awards
- Travel Award from Sea Horse Biosciences to attend 2013 AACR Meeting
- UT Graduate School Travel Award
- Genes & Development Graduate Program Travel Award
- Andrew Sowell - Wade Huggins Scholar in Cancer Research
- MD Anderson Trainee Excellence Award
- BMB Dept. Trainee Research Award- Presentation
Andrew Davis
- Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Ramon Flores Gonzalez
- Health Supplement to promote diversity in Health Related Research 2013-2015
2012
Deepavali Chakravarti
- UT MD Anderson President's Research Scholarship Award
- "Poster Presentation Award" at the Institute of Basic Science retreat
Avinash Venkatanarayan
- Schissler Foundation Fellow in Genetics of Human Disease
2011
Elsa Flores
- Key note address: p63/P73 Workshop in Lyon, France
- Leukemia and Lymphoma Scholar
- UT STARS Award
- CPRIT Grant to study p63 regulation of miRNAs in breast cancer
Xiaohua Su
- Oral presentation at the p63/p73 Workshop in France
- Travel Award from Seahorse Biosciences to attend the p63/p73 Workshop in France.
Deepavali Chakravarti
Fellowships Awarded
- T.C Hsu Memorial Fellowship
- Graduate School Travel Award
- CPRIT Fellowship Award
- Schissler Fellowship Award
- Oral presentation at the p63/p73 Workshop in France
- "Best Oral presentation Award" Cancer Biology Retreat-2011
Avinash Venkatanarayan
- Awarded the "Best Poster Award-Pre-Candidacy" in the Genes & Development Retreat-2011.