Juliet M. Daniel, PhD, a cell biologist who was a distinguished university professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and member of AACR since 2002, died April 28, 2026. She was 61 years of age.
Noted for her work on genetic risk factors for breast cancer, Daniel discovered and gave the name “Kaiso” to a gene associated with triple negative breast cancer in women of African descent.
Born in Barbados in 1964, Daniel obtained a bachelor’s degree in life sciences from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, in 1987 and a doctorate in microbiology from University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1993. She conducted postdoctoral research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
She joined McMaster as an assistant professor in 1999, the first black woman to become a member of the Faculty of Science. She was promoted to associate professor in 2005 and professor in 2012.
Daniel was appointed associate dean of research and external relations for the Faculty of Science on an acting basis in 2020 and permanently in 2021. She was named strategic advisor to the university president for the Canada-Caribbean Institute (CCI) at McMaster in 2024. She was named a distinguished university professor, the highest faculty honor, in 2025.
Among many other honors, she was elected a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2025, received the inaugural Canadian Cancer Society Inclusive Excellence Prize in Cancer Research in 2020, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in science by the University of the West Indies in 2021.
Leave your remembrance of Dr. Daniel below (limit to 1,000 characters).
Juliet was a very bright light. Always smiling, wearing colorful clothes that lifted the mood, and having a positive outlook on life. She showed us that it was possible for a black woman from the Caribbean to excel in science. I will lift a glass in your honor when next I am on your home soil Juliet! Thank you for gracing this earth with your presence.
This is a great loss for AC3 and the scientific community: her career was a true source of inspiration for us!
Everyone will miss her smile, whether they knew her well or only by reputation.
I extend my sincere condolences to her family.
It's hard to believe that Juliet was taken so suddenly from us. Juliet I will not forget your radiant smile that was a part of who you were. Your work will live on, and your memory will remain in our hearts forever. Gone too soon but definitely not forgotten