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

Executive Assistant

 

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.

 

Meredith Long | Meredith.Long@moffitt.org

Research Associate II

Meredith started her academic career studying animal science and received her associates degree in biology, before changing directions and getter her bachelor's degree in Anthropology from USF, focusing on biological anthropology. Before joining the lab, she working in animal care for many years, most recently as a USF lab animal technician in the Stablie Research Building vivarium. As a member of the DeNicola lab, Meredith hopes to gain more experience in research. Her goal is to one obtain her PhD in forensic anthropology studying how infectious disease affects the human skeleton.

 

Basma Yasseen | Basma.Yasseen@moffitt.org

Research Associate I

Basma earned a BSc in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Drug Design Discovery and Development, and a minor in Nanomedicine from the University of Science and Technology - Zewail City, Egypt. She is currently pursuing an Euro-Mediterranean MSc in Neurosciences and Biotechnology, a joint program between Bordeaux University and Alexandria University. Prior to joining Moffitt, Basma was a Senior Research Associate at the Metabolic Studies Lab, Children's Cancer Hospital 57357 in Egypt, leading research on pediatric brain tumors and neurodevelopmental disorders. She also contributed to research on mitochondrial function and oxidative stress at the Center of Aging and Associated Diseases (CAAD) in Zewail City. Her research interests include metabolic profiling of cancer cells, mitochondrial function assessment, and exploring cancer cell metabolic flexibility.

 

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.

 

Marwa Taya | Marwa.Taya@moffitt.org

Postdoctoral Fellow

Marwa received a PhD in biomedical sciences from Tel Aviv University, supervised by Prof. Ido Wolf and Dr. Tami Rubinek. Her PhD focused on breast cancer ER+ cells with ESR1 mutations, which mediate endocrine and chemotherapy resistance. One project explored how the JNK/c-Jun/MDR1 axis drives this resistance. The other examined how the mitochondrial transporter SLC25A15 contributes to liver metastasis. Building on this, Marwa's current work in the DeNicola lab aims to identify key metabolic adaptations driving lung cancer metastasis to the liver and brain, using 3D models, mouse studies, and clinical data.

 

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. 

 

 

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.

 

Aditya Gade |

Undergraduate volunteer

Aditya Gade is an undergraduate student in the University of South Florida's Honors College, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences as part of the 7-year BS/MD program. He plans to attend the USF Morsani College of Medicine and ultimately specialize in Oncology. Aditya currently serves under Dr. Yumi Kim, where he gains hands-on experience with lab techniques and assists in research investigating the role of serine biosynthesis in pancreatic tumorigenesis.

 

Reeva Kotha |

Undergraduate volunteer

Reeva Kotha is an undergraduate student in the University of South Florida's Honors College pursuing a double major in Biomedical Sciences and Women's Studies, with a minor in Public Health as part of the 8-year B.S./D.O program with Lake Erie College of Medicine. Reeva is currently working under Dr. Feroza Choudhury, where she is learning more about metabolomics, cancer progression, and lab techniques.

 

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