David Gius, MD, PHD

University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio

2024 ASTRO Mentorship Award Recipient David Gius, MD, PhD, is currently the Assistant Dean for Research and a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine as well as the Associate Cancer Center Director for Translational Research, Mays Cancer Center at the University of Texas Health San Antonio MD Anderson. He also co-directs the Mitochondrial Medicine Center in one of his roles in the Dean’s Office of Research.

Through all his accomplishments in these roles and across his 32 years in medicine, Dr. Gius says that he is most proud of the fact that 24 of his trainees are faculty members, 13 are full professors, and 12 are funded cancer researchers. Dr. Gius attributes his mentorship success to what he has learned from his mentors Ted Lawrence, PhD, All Lichter, MD, and Carlos Perez, MD.

“They taught me the importance of a legacy of mentorship, not just [prioritizing] seeing patients and research,” says Dr. Gius. This legacy is also passed on to his mentees, and one of his former mentees said, “The amount of time he invested in my grants, my career, and my training as a physician scientist was beyond generous. I hope I am half as good with my mentees as he was to me.” Dr. Gius’s prioritization of mentorship is creating a culture of successful mentorship in the field of radiation oncology.

He identifies running his own lab as the key opportunity where he began mentoring young physicians. He says it is important to step into a mentor role in this environment because of the learning experience it provides. Dr. Gius also says it is important to make sure that everyone gets the same opportunity in the lab environment because you never know who will be the most successful. When your mentees do achieve success Dr. Gius says that is one of the most rewarding things.