My name is Jesus Delgado-Calle, Ph.D.. I am a basic scientist at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. I always knew I wanted to work in health care. Growing up, I watched my grandmother receive treatment for breast cancer and admired the way doctors cared for her.
This first experience with cancer caused me to develop a passion and desire to become involved in the oncology community. However, I was unsure how I wanted to be involved in this community. In college, I learned the importance of observation and logical analysis through a scientific lens, which triggered me to pursue a Ph.D. in Health Sciences. Around that time, my father was diagnosed with cancer. Caring for my father made me realize the perpetual fight between tumor cells and our body through adaptation and resistance.
Since then, I have been committed to studying how tumors are formed and why they become resistant and come back despite the improvements in therapies. Knowing that what we investigate in the laboratory can translate into clinical trials and have real-life implications for cancer patients is the most rewarding part of my job.