Atlanta surgeon George W. Daneker M.D.
Background
Dr. George Daneker Jr. was born on September 12, 1956 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Loyola College in Baltimore in 1978. Dr. Daneker earned his Doctor of Medicine in 1983 from the University of Maryland in Baltimore. While at Maryland, he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society, and was awarded the Merck Award for Medical Studies by the faculty.
He served his categorical surgical internship and assistant, senior, and chief residencies in general surgery at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Daneker also completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in tumor biology at the Harvard Medical School's New England Deaconess Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston. He finished his training at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he completed a clinical fellowship in the Division of General Surgery and research fellowship in the Division of Tumor Biology.
He has held surgical faculty positions while in training at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Texas. He also served as a visiting lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology of Northeastern University, Boston. After his fellowships, Dr. Daneker was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology of Emory University in Atlanta from 1992-1999. During that time, he also served as the Director of Oncology Research and Bench Research Mentor in the Department of Surgery. In addition, Dr. Daneker was a staff general surgeon at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia from 1998-1999. He has also served as adjunct faculty and a PhD/MS student advisor for the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
Since 1999, Dr. Daneker has been on the general surgery staff at the Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta and Northside Hospital. He has an active clinical practice in surgical oncology and one of the largest regional experiences in the management of gastrointestinal cancers, liver cancers, pancreas cancers, and melanoma. He currently holds the position as the Chief of General and Colorectal Surgery at Saint Joseph's Hospital. Dr. Daneker also serves as the Director of Surgical Oncology in the Erb Cancer Center and is the liaison to the American College of Surgeon's Commission on Cancer.
In 2008, Dr. Daneker was named the Director of Oncology Research for the Erb Cancer Center and Saint Joseph's Translational Research Institute (SJTRI). In that position, he led the development of a strategic alliance with the Georgia Tech's Department of Biology to study the translational aspects of molecular biology in cancer. Of specific interest has been the development and application of molecular profiling to guide personalized diagnosis and therapy, and to predict prognosis. Dr. Daneker is the co-founder of TRIOMPH (Translational Research Initiative in Oncology for Management of Personalized Healthcare) along with Dr. John McDonald, Vice-Dean for Development in the Department of Biology at Georgia Tech. Dr. Daneker also holds a position as a Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Biology and serves on the board of the SJTRI.
He has received numerous acknowledgments for his work, ranging from the Armand Hammer International Travel Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology to his continuing appearance as one of the "Top Doctors in Atlanta" (Atlanta Magazine), "Best Doctors in the America" (Best Doctors, Inc.) and "America Top Surgeons" (Consumer's Research Council of America) based on peer selection. He has been invited to present by the American College of Surgeons, Instituto Nazionale Tumori (Naples, Italy), Japanese Surgical Society (Nagoya, Japan), Keystone Symposia in cell biology (Keystone, Colorado), and the Society for Surgical Oncology (SSO). Dr. Daneker has received basic science grant awards from the American Cancer Society (Career Development Award), Emory/Georgia Tech Biomedical Technology Research Center, National Institutes of Health, and the SSO's Bruce Beauchamp Fellowship.
Dr. Daneker has held multiple committee memberships at St. Joseph's and Northside Hospitals including the Ethics, Oncology Executive, Staff Executive and Strategic Planning Committees. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, the Atlanta Surgical Society, the Georgia Surgical Society, the Graduate Surgical Society at the University of Cincinnati, and the North American Surgical Oncology Group.
He has authored many journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters on cell biology, tumor biology and surgical oncology. Dr. Daneker contributed the chapter "Cancer of the Liver" in the internationally respected Oxford Textbook of Surgery 2 nd edition (2000). In addition he co-edited The Mont Reid Handbook: The University of Cincinnati Surgical Manual, 2nd edition in 1990. Dr. Daneker is a guest reviewer for The Annals of Surgical Oncology.
Dr. Daneker is married to Bonnie Bajorek Daneker, MBA who is a business consultant and published author. His oldest son, Spencer, serves in the United States Air Force. His twin sons, Elliot and Matt attend Valdosta State University and Georgia College and State University respectively. His personal interests include family, outdoor activities, travel, and volunteerism, especially with Habitat for Humanity, Open Hand, the Atlanta Union Mission, and Global Health Ministry.