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New Administrative Leader Takes Reins at CUMC
EVP journal
| Dear Colleagues & Students, |
That was May 2005, when Columbia dedicated the medical center’s new 120,000-square-foot, nine-story building that bears his name and houses the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center [HICCC], which was recently recertified by the NCI as a comprehensive
center. This designation is one given by the National Cancer Institute when a cancer center fulfills its criteria related to basic and clinical research, public information, education and outreach activities. The new building immediately doubled the research capacity of the HICCC; it also houses the Avon Foundation Breast Imaging Center for medically underserved women.
Riccardo Dalla-Favera, MD, the Percy and Joanne Uris Professor of Clinical Medicine and director of the HICCC, has raised Columbia’s stature in cancer care and research – especially in the areas of breast, prostate, lymphoma and brain cancer – since assuming the leadership of the center in 2005.
Encompassing all cancer-related research, treatment, prevention, and education efforts at CUMC and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the HICCC has more than 200 members
across the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health, who have successfully attracted more than $90 million in peer-reviewed cancer research funding. Since 2007, a number of renowned cancer researchers and physician-scientists have joined the already stellar faculty to strengthen and expand our areas of expertise.Our most recent appointment is Clifford Chao, MD, an expert in the use of image-guided targeted radiotherapy for the treatment of head and neck cancer and other cancers. Dr. Chao’s combined use of positron emission tomography and computed tomography enables him to develop effective treatment plans that target individual tumors. The new chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at P&S, Dr. Chao also holds positions and sees patients at NYPH and Weill Cornell Medical College.
Also new to the HICCC are cancer researchers Michael Shen, PhD, professor of medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, and member of the Prostate Cancer Program of the HICCC, who is studying prostate cancer stem cells, and Cory Abate-Shen, PhD, professor and director of research, Department of Urology, and a member of the Prostate Cancer Program at HICCC, who is investigating prostate development and oncogenesis.
In 2007, three renowned physician scientists joined the HICCC. Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and urology, came on board as the co-leader of the Genitourinary Malignancy Program of the HICCC. Also vice chair of the Department of Pathology, Dr. Cordon-Cardo has integrated molecular techniques into pathology as a way of improving assessment of a tumor’s biological and clinical behavior. Edward Gelmann, MD, the Clyde Wu Professor of Medicine, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine and deputy director for clinical research at HICCC, is expanding the medical oncology division to find opportunities to test new therapies in the clinic and streamline the process for initiating cancer trials. Dr. Gelmann also sees patients and does research on prostate cancer; he is at the forefront in the study of a prostate cancer suppressor protein. Owen O’Connor, MD, PhD, director of the Lymphoid Development and Malignancy Program in the HICCC and chief of the Lymphoma Service at NYPH, is translating lab findings into therapies for lymphoma and other hematological cancers and testing them in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.
Herbert and Florence Irving’s vision for making CUMC a force in cancer care and research is coming to life as CUMC increasingly becomes a locus for talented individuals making a powerful difference for those with cancer.
Lee Goldman, M.D.
