Hedy Kindler,MD, Professor of Medicine in the Section of Hematology/Oncology, has been named as Associate Vice Chair for Clinical Research for the Department of Medicine effective May 1, 2019. Dr. Kindler is an internationally recognized expert in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer. Her research focuses on investigating novel agents for the treatment of these malignancies.
Dr. Kindler received her MD from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She completed her internal medicine residency training at UCLA and Montefiore Medical Center, and fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She served on the faculty at Roswell Park Cancer Institute for 3 years before her recruitment to the Department as an assistant professor of medicine in 1999. She successfully advanced through the academic ranks and was promoted to professor of medicine in 2014. Dr. Kindler leads the Mesothelioma Program at UCM, and was the Director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program for almost 20 years.
As a clinical-translational investigator, Dr. Kindler is highly experienced in designing and leading innovative clinical trials. She plays an important role in supervising clinical research for the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC). As the Chair of the Clinical Trials Review Committee, she oversees the scientific protocol review of all cancer-related clinical research performed at UCCCC. As the Lead Principal Investigator of the NCI National Clinical Trials Network Lead Academic Participating Site UG1 grant, she provides the scientific and administrative leadership for the conduct of multi-institutional clinical trials.
In the national arena, Dr. Kindler serves on the Executive Committee for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, and is the Expert Panel Co-Chair and lead author for the ASCO Guidelines Committee on the Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. Internationally, she is a member of the Mesothelioma Task Force for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and is past president of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group. Dr. Kindler serves on the editorial board of several oncology journals, has authored over 160 original articles and book chapters, and lectures widely around the world. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and is repeatedly listed in Best Doctors in America, America’s Top Doctors for Cancer, Exceptional Women in Medicine and Top Doctors in Chicago.
In her role as Associate Vice Chair for Clinical Research, Dr. Kindler will be responsible for strengthening the Department’s clinical research enterprise. She will specifically focus her efforts on developing and implementing a strategy for growth of the Department’s clinical research operations across all sections and in collaboration with the BSD Office of Clinical Research, and creating a departmental mechanism for review and prioritization of clinical trial proposals. She will also provide oversight and guidance to the Clinical Trials Financial Group and Clinical Research Support Office as well as section based clinical research staff.