Dr. Vaklavas received his MD degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Texas at Houston. After a fellowship at the Phase I program at MD Anderson, he went on to complete his fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he was retained as faculty. He joined Huntsman Cancer Institute in summer 2019. He is a translational scientist bringing all the basic science done in the Institute closer to clinical applications. As the Physician Leader in Breast Cancer at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, he is responsible for the clinical research portfolio in breast cancer and leads many clinical trials that intend to bring the basic science conducted at Huntsman Cancer Institute closer to clinical applications. He is the recipient of multiple awards including a Young Investigator Award from ASCO, a Career Catalyst Award in Basic and Translational Research from Susan G Komen, and the very first recipient of the Daniel D. Von Hoff Innovative Protocol Award from the ASCO and AACR.