Gina DeNicola | Gina.DeNicola@moffitt.org

Interim Chair and Associate Member, Department of Metabolism & Physiology

Leader, Metabolism Program

Gina received her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied the regulation of NRF2 by oncogenic signaling in the laboratory of David Tuveson. She did her postdoctoral work with Lewis Cantley, where she examined the regulation of cellular metabolism by NRF2. In May 2016 she established her own lab at Moffitt Cancer Center. In 2022, she took over as interim chair of the Metabolism & Physiology Department and in 2023 she was appointed as Leader of the Metabolism Program. 

Fiorella Lanatta | Fiorella.Lanatta@moffitt.org

Grants Administrator Associate

Samantha Caldwell | Samantha.Caldwell@moffitt.org 

Research Associate III

Samantha has a B.S. from Millersville University of Pennsylvania. She previously worked as a veterinary technician but decided to take her career another direction and focus on research. She aims to expand her knowledge in metabolism in cancer working with experimental mouse models.

Pritin Soni | Pritin.Soni@moffitt.org

Research Associate II

Pritin received his B.S. in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then joined the lab of Dr. Fred Blattner, where he was part of the team that sequenced E.coli, which at the time was the largest genome sequenced to date. He previously worked at Northwestern University in Chicago in the Feinberg School of Medicine, studying lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis as well as epigenetic changes in prostate cancer and endometriosis.

Amanda Sherwood | Amanda.Sherwood@moffitt.org 

Research Associate I

Amanda Sherwood recently graduated from the University of South Florida with degrees in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Philosophy. She is investigating which antioxidant systems are required for NRF2-mediated lung tumor initiation and progression. She will soon apply to graduate programs in cancer biology.

Feroza Choudhury | Feroza.Choudhury@moffitt.org 

Research Scientist I

Feroza received her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of North Texas, where she studied metabolic reprogramming during rapid systemic signaling in plants exposed to stress. Before joining in DeNicola lab, she worked for 3.5 years in biopharma- AstraZeneca and Genentech, where she applied different aspects of metabolomics technology in various projects ranging from basic research to drug development. In DeNicola lab she is focusing on leveraging advancements in metabolomics technology to elucidate the role of redox metabolism during cancer progression and metastasis.

Yumi Kim | Yumi.Kim@moffitt.org

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yumi received her PhD in the Biochemistry from the College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University where she studied the regulation of lipid metabolism by natural products in pancreatic cancer in the laboratory of Hyeung Jin Jang. She did her postdoctoral work with Chang Hwa Jung, where she discovered the impaired autophagy flux in the aging lung, and also studied the role of IDH2 in longevity and aging in skeletal muscle. She now wants to explore cancer metabolism intensively. Her project in the DeNicola lab focuses on identifying key molecules for metabolic reprogramming and cancer progression using organoid models.

Lejin Sun | Lejin.Sun@Moffitt.org

PhD Student

Lejin obtained her B.S. from the University of South Florida, majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry and Mathematics. She is interested in understanding the different biochemical and metabolic pathways involved in tumorigenesis. Her project in the DeNicola lab is focused on understanding how ATF4 responds to amino acid limitation. 

Shravani Inampudi |

Undergraduate volunteer

Shravani Inampudi is pursuing her bachelors in biomedical sciences at the University of South Florida. She is working alongside Dr. Yumi Kim as she studies the role of serine biosynthesis in pancreatic tumorigenesis using organoid culture models. In the future, she plans on attending medical school and becoming a physician.

Jemma Parsons |

Undergraduate volunteer

Jemma Parsons is an undergraduate pursing her bachelors in Biomedical Sciences as a part of the University of South Florida’s 7-Year BS/MD program and she later aims to attend the Morsani College of Medicine. She is currently studying lab techniques under Pritin Soni.

 

 

 

Alumni

Former Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Scientists

  1. Sang Jun Yoon (2021-2024), Postdoctoral Fellow, Cold Spring Harbor Labs
  2. Chang Jiang, PhD (2018-2023), Assistant Member (Professor), Department of Molecular Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center
  3. Laura Torrente Fernandez, PhD (2017-2023), Medical Science Liaison, NS Pharma
  4. Nathan Ward, PhD (2016-2023), Assistant Member (Professor), Department of Metabolism & Physiology, Moffitt Cancer Center
  5. Yun Pyo Kang, PhD (2016-2021), Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University
  6. Paloma Gonzalez Sanchez, PhD (2019-2021), Journal Specialist at Frontiers in Microbiomes
  7. Guohui Li, PhD (2019-2021), Staff Scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific
  8. Joseph Combs, PhD (2018-2020), Project Manager at Jackson Labs

Former PhD students

  1. Janine DeBlasi, PhD (2019-2023), Postdoc at the University of South Florida
  2. Giulia Ambrosini, PhD (visiting 2020), Postdoc at the University of Verona

Former M.S. students

  1. Cheyenne Schneider, MS (2021-2022), Clinical Research Coordinator at Moffitt Cancer Center

Former Postbaccs and Undergraduates

  1. Rebecca Polsky (2022-2023), Premed student
  2. Lejin Sun (2022-2023), PhD student, Moffitt Cancer Center
  3. Nicolas Prieto (2018-2022), Predental student
  4. Anish Thalakola (2021-2022), Medical student at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
  5. Juliana Madej (2021-2022), Medical student at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine 
  6. Andrea Mockabee Macias (2019-2020), Research Associate at Moffitt Cancer Center
  7. Tycee Flynn (2019-2020), Medical Lab Technician at Baycare Health
  8. Cody Elkins (2018-2019), PhD Student at Emory University
  9. Sae Bom Lee (2017-2018), PhD in Cancer Biology from Moffitt Cancer Center (2024)
  10. Seth Ingram (2016), D.O. from Nova Southeastern University (2023), Surgical Resident