Dr. John Simmons is currently a fellow in cancer research at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. He received his undergraduate degree with honors in biology from American University in 2006, and recently received his Ph.D., with distinction, in tumor biology from Georgetown University. John was a founding father and founding Chaplain of the Theta Eta chapter at American University. He continues to serve as an alumni adviser for Theta Eta, and also volunteers as a facilitator for ASTP, Ladder of Risk and Pi Kapp College for Chapter Officers. John is passionate about discovering and developing new therapies to treat various types of cancer, and as such, has active collaborations with other groups within the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, as well as several other institutions. John has received a Federal Technology Transfer award, and numerous travel awards to present his work at national and international conferences from the NCI Center of Excellence in Integrative Cancer Biology and Genomics, the American Association of Cancer Research, the International Mammalian Genome Society, and the Keystone Future of Science Fund.