Daniel Salas-Escabillas

Daniel graduated from the University of Guam with a Merit Fellowship before completing a post-bac program at the Medical university of South Carolina in 2018. During undergrad, he worked on a number of projects including looking into the effects of pesticides and herbicides on local wildlife. When he was in South Carolina, he worked with Dr. Chrystal Paulos to investigate a mechanism for reducing differentiation of T cells for Adoptive T-Cell Transfer Therapy. After completing the Post-Bac program, Daniel started in the UMich Cancer Biology as a Rackham Merit Fellow in the Summer of 2018. Daniel is now working in Dr. Howard Crawford's lab and looking into the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer as well as racial disparities of pancreatic cancer. Daniel was also selected to receive the NCI Cancer Biology T32 and was awarded with a perfect Impact Score of 10 and was in the 1st percentile for their F31 fellowship from the NCI. Daniel also puts a lot of effort into outreach and diversity by initializing, organizing and providing support for numerous DEI initiatives at the University of Michigan and Nationwide programs.

Currently Daniel's research focuses on characterizing Tuft cells in the pancreas. Tuft cells are a fairly new cell type that has still bares a lot of nuance and requires more research for the field. We are still trying to understand the role that Tuft cells play in the body as well as the markers and characteristics that identify Tuft cells from the rest of the body. Daniel uses complex mouse models to uncover the secrets behind tuft cells in the progression of pancreatic cancer.

Additionally, Daniel is also focused on understanding racial disparities in pancreatic cancer. By learning more about the molecular and genetic differences, we can understand better ways to treat more specific mutations or pathways that are more prevalent in other racial/ethnic groups. Daniel is building foundational tools to answer these questions in the field.

Mouse models, tissue culture, 3D organoid culture, flow cytometry, IHC, IF, Multiplex Spatial IF imaging, Laser Capture Microdissection, ATAQ-Seq, scRNA-Seq, Whole Exome Sequencing, Adoptive cell transfer therapy

100-Plex Hallmarks of Cancer Grant, Akoya Biosciences (2023)

Presentation Award, Gordon Research Conference, Pancreas Diseases, Lucca, IT (2023)

Carl Storm URM Fellowship, Gordon Research Conference (2023)

Fusion Spatial Multi-omics Grant, Akoya Biosciences (2023)

SACNAS Travel scholarship National Diversity in STEM Conference, San Juan, PR (2022)

April Submission F31 NRSA Fellowship: Impact Score of 10 in the top 1% (2022)

ABRCMS Graduate student, and Postdoc Council (2022)

ABRCMS Alumni Spotlight. (2022)

American Association for Cancer Research Special Conference: Pancreatic Cancer Registration Scholarship - Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center (2020-2021)

SACNAS Travel Award/Registration Award, University of Michigan and SACNAS (2019-2021)

Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop Grant, University of Michigan (2020)

Cold Spring Harbor Labs Pancreatic Cancer Workshop (2020)

Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship - Honorable Mention (2020)

CIA Graduate Research Fellowship, Awarded, not accepted (2020)

Rackham Pre-Candidate Research Grant, University of Michigan (2019)

HHMI Gilliam Graduate Fellowship for Advanced Study - Nomination (2019)

National Cancer Institute T32 Training Grant Awardee, University of Michigan (2019)

American Association for the Advancement of Science Travel Award, Yale Ciancia Academy (2019)

Yale Ciencia Academy Fellowship (2018)

Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program Certificate of Completion, Medical University of South Carolina (2018)

Rackham Merit Fellowship, Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan (2018)

Advanced Opportunity Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison, SciMed Graduate Research Scholars - Awarded, not accepted (2018)

HIRS Fellowship, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus - Awarded, not accepted (2017)

Initiative for Maximizing Student Development Fellowship, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program - Awarded, not accepted (2017)

Annual Biomedical Research Conference For Minority Students (ABRCMS) Travel award, Medical University Of South Carolina (2017)

NIH PREP Scholar, Medical University of South Carolina (2017-2018)

Blue Key Honor Society, University of Guam Chapter (2017)

Merit Scholarship, University of Guam (2013-2017)

Regent Scholar, University of Guam (2013-2017)

American Society for Microbiology Travel Award for the ABRCMS (2016)

The National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Travel Award for NIH Annual Short-Term Research Experience for Underrepresented Persons Symposium (2016)

Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy Poster Award, University of Guam(2016)

Time Magazine's Person of the Year. (2006)

2023 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Jacee S. Moore, Hui-Ju Wen, Sydney Brender, Dan Long, Megan T. Hoffman, Simone Benitz, Erick Davis, Don Rempinski, Nina Steele, Katherine DelGiorno, Howard C. Crawford. Metaplastic tuft cells transdifferentiate into metaplastic neuroendocrine cells as pancreatic cancer progresses into late stage carcinoma. AACR Special Conference: Pancreatic Cancer. Sept. 2023. Boston, MA.

2023 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Sarah McNally, Nicholas Sowizral, Sela Panapasa. Understanding the efficacy of standard-of-care treatments for the Pacific Islander community. Poster. 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved. Oct 2023. Orlando FL

2023 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Jacee Moore, Dan Long, Megan T. Hoffman, Hui-Ju Wen, Howard C. Crawford. Exploring the lineage of Tuft cells in the progression of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in mice. Poster. Henry Ford Research Symposium. May 2023. Detroit, MI干

2023 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Jacee Moore, Megan T. Hoffman, Hui-Ju Wen, Howard C. Crawford. The Transforming Taste of Pancreatic Cancer: Characterizing the lineage of metaplastic tuft cells in the progression of pancreatic cancer. Oral Presentation. MSK View Symposium. Virtual

2023 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Jacee Moore, Megan T. Hoffman, Hui-Ju Wen, Howard C. Crawford. Exposing the fate of metaplastic tuft cells in the progression of pancreatic cancer. Poster. Gordon Research Conference: Pancreas Diseases Conference. May 2023. Tuscany, Italy干

2023 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Jacee Moore, Megan T. Hoffman, Hui-Ju Wen, Howard C. Crawford. The Transforming Taste of Pancreatic Cancer: Characterizing the lineage of metaplastic tuft cells in the progression of pancreatic cancer. Oral Presentation. Gordon Research Conference: Pancreas Diseases Seminar. April 2023. Tuscany, Italy

2022 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Megan T. Hoffman, Howard C. Crawford. Investigating the fate of solitary chemosensory cells in the progression of pancreatic cancer. Oral Presentation. SACNAS National Diversity Conference in STEM. October 2022, San Juan, PR.

2022 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Jacee Moore, Dan Long, Megan T. Hoffman, Hui-Ju Wen, Howard C. Crawford. The invigorating transformation of tuft cells as pancreatic cancer progresses. Oral presentation. November 2022. Anaheim, CA.干

2022 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas. My journey through graduate school as an island boy from Guam and work in cellular plasticity. Oral presentation. November 2022. Anaheim, CA.

2022 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Megan T. Hoffman, Howard C. Crawford. Uncovering the lineage of chemosensory cells in the progression of pancreatic cancer. Poster. AACR PanCAN. Sept. 2022. Boston, MA.

2022 Daniel Salas-Escabillas. Toolkit for applying to biomedical Ph.D. Programs. The University of Guam STEM Conference 2022. Virtual live talk. April 2022

2021 Hui-Ju Wen, Simone Benitz, Daniel Salas-Escabillas, Amanda Pacheco, Jacee Moore, Erick Davis, Malak Nassar, Howard Crawford. Investigating Cellular Plasticity and Tumor-Immune Cell Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer. HFH + MSU Translational Oncology Research Symposium. Poster. November 2021.

2021 Daniel J Salas-Escabillas, Howard Crawford. Investigating the Role of Metaplastic Tuft cells in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Virtual. SACNAS 2021

2020 Daniel J Salas-Escabillas, Megan Hoffman, Howard Crawford. Understanding the Lineage of Metaplastic Tuft Cells in the Progression of Pancreatic Cancer. Virtual poster. AACR PanCAN2020.

2020 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Megan T. Hoffman, Howard C. Crawford. Tracing the Lineage of Tuft cells in Pancreatic Cancer. Virtual. SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Virtual Conference.

2019 Daniel J. Salas, Megan T. Hoffman, Howard C. Crawford. Tracing the Lineage of Tuft cells in Pancreatic Cancer. Poster. University of Michigan Cancer Biology PhD Program Annual Retreat. Sept 13, 2019. Maumee Bay, OH.

2018 Daniel J. Salas, and Chrystal M. Paulos. Turning back the clock on T cell differentiation via Pi3K-δ inhibition: Using Idelalisib to better improve adoptive cell transfer therapy. Oral. The Medical University of South Carolina End of the Year PREP Symposium. May 23rd, 2018. Charleston, SC

2017 Daniel J. Salas, Michelle H. Nelson, Aubrey S. Smith, Megan M. Wyatt, Hannah M. Knochelmann, Stefanie R. Bailey, Chrystal M. Paulos. More is Better: Infusing more CAL-101 treated CD8+ cells is more effective against melanoma. The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. Poster. November 1-4, 2017. Phoenix, AZ.
Abstract: http://tinyurl.com/2017ABRCMsAbstract
Poster: http://tinyurl.com/cal101moreisbetter

2016 Daniel J. Salas, Ali Shawki, and Declan McCole. The Role of the IBD-associated gene, PTPN2 in morphology of the mouse intestine. Research Integration of Teaching, Education and Sustainable Resources Seminar. Oral. November 21st, 2016. University of Guam. Mangilao, GU.

2016 Daniel J. Salas, Ali Shawki, and Declan McCole. The Role of the IBD-associated gene, PTPN2 in morphology of the mouse intestine. The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. Poster. November 3rd, 2016. Tampa, FL.
Poster: http://tinyurl.com/IBDptpn2

2016 Daniel J. Salas. Summer Research: Before, During and After. Research Integration of Teaching, Education and Sustainable Resources Seminar, University of Guam. Oral. September 14th 2016. Mangilao, GU

2016 Daniel J. Salas, Ali Shawki, and Declan McCole. The Role of the IBD-associated gene, PTPN2 in morphology of the mouse intestine. Annual NIDDK NIH STEP-UP Symposium, National Institute of Health. August 4th 2016. Bethesda, MD.干
Poster: http://tinyurl.com/IBDptpn2

2016 Daniel J. Salas, and Katherine Moots. Endemic Species of the Marianas: Golden White-eye-: Cleptornis marchei. Comparative Vertebrate Symposium for Indigenous Species, University of Guam. April 2016. Mangilao, GU

2015 Daniel J. Salas, Catherine Nguyen, Christina Nguyen, and Timothy Righetti. The Effects of Sevin on the endocrine system of Gambusia affinis. Research Integration of Teaching, Education and Sustainable Resources Seminar, University of Guam. February 16th 2016. Mangilao, GU

2023 Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Jacee S. Moore, Sydney Brender, Dan Long, Megan T. Hoffman, Hui-Ju Wen, Erick Davis, Don Rempinski, Nina Steele, Katherine DelGiorno, Howard C. Crawford. Tumor initiating metaplastic tuft cells transdifferentiate into a neuroendocrine cells during the progression of pancreatic carcinoma.

2023 Guillermo O. Rangel-Revera*, Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas*, Megan M. Wyatt, Connor J. Dwyer, Hannah M. Knochlemann, Aubrey S. Smith, Michelle, H. Nelson, Edmund K. Waller, Malathy Shanmugan, Gregory B. Lesinski, Chrystal M. Paulos. Transient but not permanent blockade of the PI3K-Delta Signaling Pathway is required for successful CD8+ T-cell adoptive cancer immunotherapy.

2022 Rosa E. Menjivar, Zeribe C. Nwosu, Wenting Du, Katelyn L. Donahue, Carlos Espinoza, Kristee Brown, Ashley Velez-Delgado, Wei Yan, Fatima Lima, Allison Bischoff, Padma Kadiyala, Daniel Salas-Escabillas, Howard Crawford, Filip Bednar, Eileen Carpenter, Yaqing Zhang, Christopher J. Halbrook, Costas A. Lyssiotis, Marina Pasca di Magliano. Arginase 1 depletion in myeloid cells decreases immune suppression and tumor formation in pancreatic cancer. eLife. Jul. 2022. Submitted

2022 Michael K. Scales, Ashley Velez-Delgado, Nina G. Steele, Hannah E. Schrader, Anna M. Stabnick, Wei Yan, Nayanna Mercado Soto, Zeribe C. Nwosu, Craig Johnson, Yaqing Zhang, Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Rosa E. Menjivar, H. Carlo Maurer, Kenneth P. Olive, Marina Pasca di Magliano, and Benjamin L. Allen. Combinatorial GLI activity directs myeloid infiltration and tumor growth in pancreatic cancer. PLoS Genetics. Jun. 2022. Accepted.

2020 Megan T. Hoffman, Samantha B. Kemp, Daniel J. Salas-Escabillas, Yaqing Zhang, Nina G. Steele, Stephanie The, Daniel Long, Simone Benitz, Wei Yan, Filip Bednar, Robert F. Margolskee, Marina Pasca di Magliano, Hui-Ju Wen, and Howard C. Crawford. The Gustatory Sensory G-Protein GNAT3 Suppresses Pancreatic Cancer Progression in Mice. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. Aug. 2020. In press

• Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander,
• Individual from disadvantaged backgrounds including low SES & rural or inner-city environments
• First generation college student
• Graduated from a Minority Serving Institution
• Have experienced financial hardship