Names & News

Posted: August 14, 2019 Christian Rolfo, MD, PhD, MBA, Dr.h.c., was recently appointed vice president of The International Society of Liquid Biopsy (ISLB). This nonprofit organization, founded in 2017, aims to erase restrictions of liquid biopsy implementation in routine clinical practice, either in individual countries or across specialties. The society will hold its annual congress April…

Posted: May 27, 2019 Scott Antonia, MD, PhD, was appointed director of the newly formed DCI Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at Duke Cancer Institute. In addition to his leadership role, Dr. Antonia will also serve as professor of medical oncology. In his previous roles at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, he built an active lung cancer…

Posted: May 27, 2019 Charles B. Simone, II, MD, has joined the New York Proton Center, which is opening this spring, as its chief medical officer. In his previous position, Dr. Simone was the medical director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center and an associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Maryland School of…

Posted: May 27, 2019 After Scott Gottlieb’s resignation as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early March, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar II appointed Norman E. Sharpless, MD, as acting commissioner. Dr. Sharpless, a physician–scientist, is currently the director of the National Cancer Institute. In a statement,…

Posted: May 27, 2019 Howard (Jack) West, MD, has moved from the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle, where he directed the medical oncology component of thoracic oncology program, to City of Hope, Duarte, Calif, in March 2019. Dr. West, an associate clinical professor of medical oncology and executive director of Employer Services, made the move to…

Posted: March 1, 2019 Adi Gazdar, MD, a true giant in the field of lung cancer research, passed away on December 29, 2018. Dr. Gazdar was the W. Ray Wallace Distinguished Chair in Molecular Pathology Research and professor of pathology at the Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research and pathology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.…

Posted: March 1, 2019 Valerie W. Rusch, MD, FACS, was elected to serve as the 2018-2019 president-elect of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Rusch is the vice chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Surgery and the Miner Family Chair in Intrathoracic Cancers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and professor of surgery…

Posted: March 1, 2019 Waun Ki Hong, MD, the “father of chemoprevention” and renowned cancer researcher and mentor, died on January 2, 2019, at the age of 76. Dr. Hong’s illustrious career began in the South Korean Air Force as a flight surgeon during the Vietnam War. After his military service, Dr. Hong completed his…