Isil Guney, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - Boston, Massachusetts

Although currently based at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Dr. Isil Guney has traveled to many places across the world. She attended high school in Havana, Cuba before furthering her education in Singapore. After high school she would enroll at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, later leaving for the United States to study at Xavier University of Louisiana. At Xavier Dr. Guney received a B.S. in biology and pre-medicine, achieving the honors of class valedictorian and summa cum laude. Completing her education at Brown University in Rhode Island, Dr. Guney would obtain a PhD in Biology and Medicine.

Early in her career, Dr. Guney became aware that prostate cancer was a leading cause of mortality among men in the U.S., and was particularly concerned about the rate of progress in the field.  She discovered that, despite the fact that tens of thousands of men die each year from the disease, no groundbreaking advances had been made in treating this cancer for more than half a century.  She believed that understanding the molecular events underlying the progression of the disease would lead to more effective treatments for prostate cancer.

Dr. Guney’s devotion to prostate cancer research has garnered her many accolades. Her work has been published in nine publications. In addition to the PCF Young Investigator award, she was also given the Bernard E. Bruce Award, at Brown University for excellence in academic achievement. She is currently a research associate in medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and is the trainer and supervisor of one graduate student and two technicians.

Despite Dr. Guney’s long hours of research focused in the area of prostate cancer, she continues to make time for hobbies. She enjoys dancing, playing the piano, cooking, swimming and all other sports. Dr. Guney’s native language is Turkish, and she is fluent in both English and Spanish. She is currently learning to speak French and is interested in learning Arabic, which is likely to prove useful whenever she engages in another one of her favorite hobbies: traveling.

“I am very fortunate to have become a biologist and practice the profession of my choice, while at the same time pursuing my personal interests on a regular basis,” says Dr. Guney. “It is a great privilege that the profession I love presents me, each day, the opportunity to contribute towards a concerted effort to effectively treat and cure prostate cancer. As a scientific community, we are making important progress towards understanding this disease and designing novel treatments for patients.”