Senior Preceptors

Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade investigates the molecular genetics of breast cancer and the role of tumor suppressor genes in cancer. She is also interested in cancer risk assessment and chemoprevention as well as breast cancer and minority populations. Dr. Olopade has maintained externally funded laboratory and clinical research programs in cancer genetics since 1990. Currently, she is PI on six grants from the NIH/NCI, the U.S. Army/DOD, the Falk Research Trust and the Doris Duke Foundation.

Dr. Douglas Bishop studies the mechanism of meiotic recombination. Currently, he is PI on two grants from the NIH/NIGMS and Department of Defense.

Dr. Marcus Clark studies the molecular mechanisms by which the antigen receptor couples to and activates tyrosine kinases. Dr. Clark is PI on an R01 award from NIH/NIGMS.

Dr. Fred Coe is the Director of the NIH/NIDDK Clinical Research Training grant. Dr. Coe is also PI on a NIH/NIDDK program project award “Pathogenesis of Calcium Nephro-Lithiasis.”

Dr. Eileen Dolan has devoted her career to translational research in the area of drug development and pharmacology. She has extensive experience in preclinical and clinical drug development, with a particular focus on the pharmacodynamic effects of drugs and modulators of DNA repair. Currently, she is the PI on an R01 from NIH/NCI as well as a key investigator on five other NIH sponsored grants.

Dr. Gini Fleming works with clinical trials to develop new agents for the therapy of breast and gynecologic cancer.

Dr. Mary Ellen Giger is the leader of Advanced Imaging Program in the UCCR and has been involved in imaging research for more than 20 years. Important contributions by Dr. Giger are in two major areas: (1) imaging physics of digital radiographic systems, including physical quality indices and the psychophysics of observer performance and (2) computer-aided diagnosis, including breast, thoracic, and skeletal imaging. Drs. Giger and Olopade are using computerized analysis of mammograms, including texture analysis, in an attempt to identify features, which might allow for better classification of breast lesions. Her research has resulted in 22 patents (8 allowed and 14 pending). Currently, Dr. Giger is PI on five grants from NIH/NCI, NIH/NIAMS, and the Department of Defense.

Dr. Harvey Golomb studies the biology and treatment of hairy cell leukemia, lung cancer and malignant lymphomas.

Dr. Geoffery Greene studies the molecular mechanisms by which female steroid hormones regulate cellular proliferation in hormone responsive tissues and cancers. Currently, he is PI on two grants from the Department of Defense and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Dr. Richard Larson is interested in the determinants of treatment response in acute and chronic leukemia and stem cell transplantation. Dr. Larson is Core Leader for the Patient Access, Data Management and Tissue Culture Core on Dr. Michelle Le Beau’s NIH/NCI program project award “Etiology of Treatment Induced Secondary Leukemia.”

Dr. Michelle Le Beau’s research interests include cancer cytogenetics, molecular analysis of the recurring chromosomal deletions in myeloid leukemias and the molecular cloning and characterization of chromosomal fragile sites. She is the principal investigator or Project Leader on four peer-reviewed research grants.

Dr. David Meltzer explores problems in health economics and public policy. A major area of his research examines the theoretical foundations of medical cost-effectiveness analysis, including issues such as accounting for future costs due to the extension of life and the empirical validity of quality of life assessment, which he has examined in the context of diabetes and prostate cancer.

Dr. Mitchell Posner is interested in gastrointestinal tumors and melanoma. He is currently PI for the CALGB Surgical Modality Committee.

Dr. Mark Ratain is interested in pharmacology of antineoplastic agents, pharmacogenetics and phase I and II drug studies. Currently, Dr. Ratain is PI on three grants from NIH/NCI and NIH/NIGMS. Dr. Ratain is also the Program Director for the NIH/NIGMS T32 training grant “Clinical Therapeutics.”

Dr. Carrie Rinker Schaffer is focusing on the identification of metastasis-suppressor genes on chromosomes 12 and 17 in prostate cancer. Currently, she is PI on three grants from the American Cancer Society, Department of Defense and NIH/NCI.

Dr. Marsha Rosner has been studying the regulation of the Ras/Raf1 MAP kinase cascade pathway and have recently demonstrated that different growth factors such as EGF and FGF activate MAP (ERK) kinases by different mechanisms.

Dr. Janet Rowley’s major focus is to elucidate the mechanism of transformation by MLL, a gene that is involved in more than 30 recurring translocations in AML, ALL, and t-AML arising after treatment with topo II inhibitors. Currently, she is PI on a R01 grant from NIH/NCI and a Project Leader on Dr. Michelle Le Beau’s NIH/NCI program project award “Etiology of Treatment Induced Secondary Leukemia.”

Dr. Richard Schilsky focuses on new drug development and the clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of new and established anticancer agents. Dr. Schilsky has served as chair of the CALGB since April 1, 1995, and was recently elected to a second five-year term. Currently, he is PI on three grants from NIH/NCI.

Dr. Walter Stadler is involved in clinical research in genitourinary cancers, especially with targeted therapeutic agents as well as developing molecular markers in genitourinary cancers.

Dr. Mark Siegler is the Director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. He has held many lectureships and visiting professorships in the United States and abroad and has been the recipient of more than twenty-five federal and foundation research grants. He has practiced general medicine for more than thirty years and is one of the few physicians who combine expertise in medical ethics with an active medical practice.

Dr. Wendy Stock is a leader in the correlative leukemia studies conducted by CALGB. Her research interests include the application of molecular techniques for the evaluation of treatment responses and the detection of minimal residual disease. Currently, she is the lead investigator on the CALGB “Correlative Science Project.”

Dr. Ursula Storb is interested is the analysis of expression of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes. These genes encode antibody molecules and are induced to highest activity during encounter with agents foreign to the organism, such as microbes. Dr. Storb is Program Director of the NIH/NCI sponsored “Molecular and Cellular Biology” training grant. In addition, she is currently PI on five grants from NIH/NIAID and the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Ronald Thisted focuses on the areas of biostatistics and epidemiology, statistical computation, and effectiveness of medical interventions.

Dr. Koen van Besien studies hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and hematologics malignancies.

Dr. James Vardiman has had a long-standing interest in refining the morphological classification of hematologic malignancies and incorporating molecular and cytogenetic features into available classification systems. Dr. Vardiman is a member and committee chair of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification Steering Committee, which has developed a new classification of hematologic malignancies.

Dr. Mitch Villereal is studying the signal-transduction process by which growth factors, via binding to membrane receptors in cultured fibroblasts, transmit a signal into the cell which serves to initiate cell proliferation. Currently, he is PI on and R01 award from NIH/NIGMS.

Dr. Everett Vokes has devoted his academic career to clinical research in head and neck and chest malignancies and the interaction of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He is also active in our phase I and II drug development activities where he serves as the principal investigator of the NCI-sponsored phase II cooperative agreement (1994-2000) and contract (since 2001) to conduct phase II trials of new anticancer drugs. In addition, he is the Principal Investigator of a pending NIH/NCI-sponsored “Chicago SPORE in Head and Neck Cancer” that hopes to extend the work of the Chicago Oral Cancer Research Center that is currently funded though a joint NIDR/NCI program project award.

Dr. Ralph Weischelbaum is studying signal transduction pathways following exposure of mammalian cells to ionizing radiation and gene therapy in the treatment of neoplastic disease. Dr. Weischelbaum is Program Director of the NIH/NCI “Training Program in Environmental Biology.” He is also currently PI on a NIH/NCI R01 award.

Dr. Greg Sachs’ research interests include ethical issues in research involving human subjects, end-of-life care, and dementia. Dr. Sachs is available to serve as a Senior Preceptor for fellows whose work in hematology/oncology overlaps with those areas (e.g., studying informed consent for older adults enrolling in cancer clinical trials). In addition, he regularly serves as co-mentor for fellows and junior faculty interested in developing geriatrics as a focus of their work in a clinical sub-specialty."

Dr. Ravi Salgia is interested in translational research in upper aerodigestive tract cancers. He is studying lung cancer with the following projects: the role of tyrosine kinase inhibition in lung cancer: the role of c-Met and c-Kit receptor tyrosine kinases in lung cancer and other solid tumors; role of targeted therapies with reactive oxygen species modulators in lung cancer; role of modulating topoisomerases with receptor tyrosine kinases; the identification of biomarkers in lung cancer and the role of cytoskeletal proteins, such as paxillin, in normal and transformed cells. Aside from our translational basic science research, he is very interested in clinical research. He is developing novel targeted therapeutic protocols for thoracic oncology. His protocols also build in considerable translational studies to learn more about the mechanisms of the drug in vivo.

Preceptors

Dr. Suzanne Conzen studies locally advanced breast cancer and the molecular biology of mammary epithelium and breast cancer. She is currently PI on five grants including a NIH/NCI Career Award (K08).

Dr. Christopher Daugherty is interested in acute leukemia and allogeneic stem cell transplantation. His research interests are in medical ethics and dilemmas of informed consent and human experimentation in cancer clinical trials. Currently, he is PI on a grant from the Open Society Institute.

Dr. Theodore Karrison works closely with investigators in the design and statistical analysis of studies conducted within the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at The University of Chicago.

Dr. Hedy Kindler directs the Mesothelioma and Gastrointestinal tract cancer programs. Her clinical research interests are in developing Phase I and II I compounds with special focus on anti- angiogenesis agents.

Dr. Stephen Kron uses genetics and cell biology to dissect the CDC28 gene and its regulators, find targets of the kinase and learn how developmental signals and checkpoints act on the cell cycle. Currently, he is PI on two grants from NIH/NIGMS and the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Thomas Gajewski has clinical interests in melanoma and immunotherapy of cancer. His research interests are in the molecular mechanisms of T lymphocyte activation, T cell tolerance, and murine models of anti-tumor immunity. Dr. Gajewski is currently PI on a NIH/NIAID R01 grant.

Dr. Charles Rudin focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which Bcl-2 family members regulate mitochondrial physiology. He has identified factors in yeast that appear to be functionally complemented by the mammalian anti-poptotic factor Bcl-xL, and that can protect yeast from toxicity of the pro-apoptotic factor Bax. Currently, he is PI on two grants including a NIH/NCI sponsored Career Award (K08).

Dr. Michael Thirman studies chromosomal translocations in leukemia, oncogenes, and molecular biology of hematologic malignancies. Currently, he is PI on a NIH/NCI R01 grant.