Erin Giles, PhD
She/Her
Assistant Professor
Kinesiology
Dr. Giles obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Guelph (Guelph, Canada) and her PhD in Medical Science from McMaster University and the Juravinski Cancer Center (Hamilton, Canada) where she studied mechanisms underlying the metastasis of breast cancer to bone. She then joined the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus as a postdoctoral fellow, studying the interaction between obesity, postmenopausal weight gain, and breast cancer. Dr. Giles was awarded an NCI/NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award which funded her transition from a postdoctoral fellow to faculty member. She spent 5 years as an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University before moving to Michigan in the Fall of 2022. Her research is focused on determining how menopausal weight gain and associated adipose inflammation contributed to breast cancer risk and progression, and using diet, exercise, and pharmacological interventions to decrease these obesity-associated comorbidities after menopause. Dr. Giles brings a strong history of funding success, including grants from the National Institutes of Health (K99/R00 and recent R01), American Institute for Cancer Research, Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas, and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Projects:
None
University Affiliation(s)
Cancer Center | Diabetes Institute | M-NORC
Research Area(s)
Basic and Translational cancer research | Breast cancer | Development and Aging | Metabolic Systems Biology | Obesity
Publications
- Preventing ovariectomy-induced weight gain decreases tumor burden in rodent models of obesity and postmenopausal breast cancer
- Change in blood and benign breast biomarkers in women undergoing a weight-loss intervention randomized to high-dose v-3 fatty acids versus placebo
- Ghrelin and Cancer: Examining the Roles of the Ghrelin Axis in Tumor Growth and Progression
Grants
- Principal investigator of: Effects of the Estrous Cycle on Secondary Injury after Spinal Cord Injury
- Principal investigator of: Obesity, body fat distribution, and breast cancer risk: is visceral fat the culprit after menopause?
- Funded by: GILES, Erin