Bio
PHILADELPHIA – The Biden Cancer Moonshot named Nduka M. Amankulor, MD, an associate professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Penn Brain Tumor Center at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, a Cancer Moonshot Scholar this week. Amankulor is among 11 scholars included in the inaugural cohort of the program receiving a total of $5.4 million to support cancer research and innovation across the country. The grant will support Amankulor as he researches novel immune biomarkers, and whether they can predict a brain tumor’s responsiveness to therapy.
“Coming up with novel therapies for brain tumors is both a personal and professional endeavor for me. As a neurosurgeon and scientist, I am committed to brain tumor research. And because my own father died of brain cancer, I feel the need to move the needle more acutely,” says Amankulor. “It means the world to me to have our research supported directly by President Biden, who has also been personally affected by brain cancer, as he lost his son Beau to brain cancer eight years ago.
