Download Annual Report July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015

”Celebrating Excellence in
Patient Care, Education
and Research”
Annual Report
July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015
The Division of Hematology/Oncology
The Division of Hematology/Oncology continues to be a vibrant, productive, and highly respected academic unit at the University of
Michigan. With nearly 80 faculty and growing, the Division is one of the largest units in the Department of Internal Medicine. Our
faculty are involved in bench to bedside research, from basic laboratory experiments to conducting experimental clinical treatments,
with the goal of providing better treatment options for patients with cancer and hematologic disorders.
Since 2007, when I assumed the role of Division Chief, we have recruited over 40 faculty members across multiple disease areas and
research interests. We are particularly proud of the growth of our junior faculty and their remarkable accomplishments. In the last
five years, our faculty have been successful in obtaining numerous awards to support their research interests, including: NIH K-awards
(3), NIH R01-awards (13), Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (8), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator
Awards (4), American Cancer Society Awards (5), the V Foundation for Cancer Research (3), American Association for Cancer
Research (2), Damon Runyon Cancer Research (2), American Society for Blood & Marrow Transplantation (3), Department of Defense
(8), American Society of Hematology, numerous other peer-reviewed foundation awards, and 225 new clinical trials. Below are some
additional statistics showing the tremendous growth of our activities.
The diverse composition of our faculty creates wonderful mentorship opportunities for our fellows across multiple disciplines and
disease areas. We work with our trainees to ensure they have a strong mentorship team that will be highly committed to providing
guidance for both research and career development. In addition to funding from the University of Michigan’s Graduate Medical
Education Department, the trainees in our fellowship program are supported by the Veteran’s Administration, our NIH T32 Training
Grant (five trainees pursuing careers in academic medicine), and the Elsa Pardee Foundation (two trainees pursuing careers in
community cancer care). The majority of our graduating fellows have chosen to remain in academia, with nearly 75% of our
graduating fellows in the last ten years now at an academic medical center.
In this report, you will find highlights of our current faculty and fellows. We celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of the Division
of Hematology/Oncology and look forward to training the future leaders in academic medicine.
FY14
FY15
67
69
17
16
$19.2M
$22M
458
468
54,378
57,687
New Patients
6,230
6,344
Inpatient Admissions
2,046
2,014
20
20
Faculty
Kathleen A. Cooney, MD
Frances and Victor Ginsberg Professor of Hematology/Oncology
Professor of Internal Medicine and Urology
Chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Deputy Director, Cancer Clinical Services
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
(Instruction & Clinical Tracks)
Faculty (Research)
External Funding (Directs)
Clinical Trial Accruals
Outpatient Visits
Fellows
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 1
Division Leadership
The Senior Advisory Team (pictured here) helps
lead the strategic direction of the division in clinical
care, research, education, service, and philanthropy.
Associate Chiefs
The Division Leadership Team handles ongoing
day-to-day management issues. This team is comprised of the division chief, Dr. Cooney, the associate chiefs, Drs. Reddy and Smith, and the division
administrator, Julie Brabbs.
Julie Brabbs, MBA
Division Administrator
Senior Advisors
Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO
Stuart B. Padnos Professor of
Breast Cancer Research
Senior Advisor for Philanthropy
Pavan Reddy, MD
Moshe Talpaz Professor
of Translational Oncology
Associate Chief of Research
Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, FASCO
Cis Maisel Professor of Oncology
Senior Advisor for Clinical Research
Kemp Cease, MD, MBA
Professor
VA Section Chief
David Smith, MD
Professor
Associate Chief of Clinical Services
Francis Worden, MD
Professor
Fellowship Program Director
Page 2
Moshe Talpaz, MD
Alexander J. Trotman Professor for
Leukemia Research
Senior Advisor for
Translational Research
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
By the Numbers—FY15
PUBLICATIONS
EDUCATION
269 Journal Articles in CY 2014
20 Hematology/Oncology Fellows
23 Regularly Scheduled CME
99 Journal Articles
Activities Provided
in CY 2015 through July
(Source: Scopus)
FY15 Newly Funded Grants
American Cancer Society
Scholars (2)
American Society of Clinical
Oncology (ASCO) Young
Investigator Award
ABOUT US
Breast Cancer Research
Foundation (BCRF) (2)
85 Research & Clinical Faculty
84 Laboratory Research Staff
Damon Runyon Cancer Research
Foundation
37 Dedicated Administrative Staff
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
10 Buildings Occupied
NIH K Award
38K sq. ft. of Research Space
NIH U10 (LAPS)
NIH R01
Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
PATIENT CARE
57,687 Outpatient Visits
2,014 Inpatient Admissions
220 Bone Marrow Transplants
$16.3M Patient Care Revenue
GRANTS & CLINICAL TRIALS
227 Proposals Submitted
71 Clinical Trials Opened
468 Clinical Trial Accruals
Pardee Foundation (2)
Prostate Cancer Foundation
U.S. Department of Defense
V Foundation for Cancer
Research
$22M Direct Funds
6,344 New Patient Clinic Visits
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 3
New Faculty
Patrick Burke, MD—Lecturer.
Dr. Burke earned his BS in Biology from Providence College in Rhode Island. He matriculated at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New
York where he earned his medical degree. He then completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center,
followed by a year serving as a Chief Resident. He recently completed his Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center in New York, where his clinical and research interests focused on leukemia, particularly adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia
(ALL). He performed clinical research regarding the role of asparaginase and pediatric-inspired therapeutic regimens in adult ALL, as well as
investigating therapies that spare cytotoxic chemotherapy in older adult Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL. Dr. Burke is currently
focusing his research on early phase clinical trials in acute leukemias and is treating patients with hematologic malignancies.
Leslie Fecher, MD—Associate Professor.
Dr. Fecher joined the faculty from Indiana University School of Medicine's Simon Cancer Center. She completed her BA in Biochemistry at
Rice University in Houston, and earned her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at
University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, followed by an Oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins' Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer
Center in Baltimore. Dr. Fecher was an Assistant Professor at the Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia for four years where she held a
secondary appointment in Dermatology. She then joined the faculty at Indiana University. Dr. Fecher's research and clinical focus is on
melanoma and other advanced cutaneous tumors.
Aki Morikawa, MD, PhD—Lecturer.
Dr. Morikawa earned her BMus and MMus in Piano Performance at the Boston University School of Arts. She then completed an MPH in
Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the Boston University School of Public Health, followed by a PhD in Epidemiology, and her MD from Emory
University in Atlanta. Dr. Morikawa completed her Internal Medicine residency at Emory University followed by a Medical Oncology
fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. She has already earned numerous honors, most recently the ASCO/Conquer Cancer
Foundation Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Research Fellowship in 2013. Dr. Morikawa’s research interest is in metastatic breast cancer
with a focus in brain and leptomeningeal metastases. She is treating breast cancer patients.
Phillip Palmbos, MD, PhD—Lecturer.
Dr. Palmbos is a graduate of the Physician Scientist Training Program at the University of Michigan, a combined residency and fellowship
program through the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). His PhD research focused on DNA repair. His current laboratory
research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms driving bladder cancer formation using transgenic and xenograft models as
well as in vitro work. He is currently working in the laboratory of his mentor, Dr. Diane Simeone, in the Translational Oncology Program.
His clinical focus is GU malignancy and he primarily sees patients with bladder and prostate cancers.
Page 4
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
New Faculty
Faculty Distinction
The division also welcomed back two faculty members:
Ronald J. Buckanovich, MD, PhD, installed as Thomas H. Simpson
Collegiate Professor
Erica Campagnaro, MD—Associate Professor.
Dr. Campagnaro attended Louisiana State
University where she earned her BA in French,
followed by an MD at Louisiana State University
Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
She completed a residency in Internal Medicine at
the University of Texas Medical Branch in
Galveston, Texas, followed by a year as Chief
Resident. She completed her Hematology/
Oncology fellowship at the University of Texas
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where her clinical and research interests
focused on myeloma. She continued that focus as a Clinical Lecturer at
the University of Michigan from 2007-2009. She then joined the faculty
at Case Western Reserve University, leading their myeloma program.
Dr. Campagnaro’s clinical and research focus is on improving outcomes
in patients with multiple myeloma.
Ronald John Buckanovich, MD, PhD, earned an undergraduate degree in
genetics and biochemistry at Cornell University in 1990, a PhD from the Rockefeller University in 1996, and a medical degree from Cornell in 1998.
During his thesis research with Robert Darnell, MD, PhD, Dr. Buckanovich
characterized the cellular target of an autoimmune neurologic disease associated
with breast and ovarian cancer. This work resulted in a novel diagnostic test that is
currently used in clinical practice.
It was during his Hematology/Oncology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania that Dr. Buckanovich worked with George Coukos, MD, PhD, and began to
focus his research on defining the ovarian cancer microenvironment to identify
novel therapeutic targets.
Dr. Buckanovich joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2006. Here
he has continued his efforts to define the cellular compartments of cancer in order
to identify novel diagnostic tests and therapeutic agents for women’s cancer with
an emphasis on ovarian cancer. Currently the laboratory is focused on understanding the cellular interactions in the tumor vascular/cancer stem cell niche. Recent
studies have identified a means to inactivate BRCA gene expression in cancer cells
to sensitize them to both chemotherapy and a new class of molecular targeted
therapies called PARP-inhibitors. His lab is also currently developing two new therapies targeting cancer stem cells—one to prevent cancer cell metastasis and another to prevent disease recurrence.
Dr. Buckanovich also maintains a busy
clinical practice specializing in the treatment
of ovarian and uterine cancers. He is currently
the principal investigator on two clinical trials.
He holds four patents, two for novel therapeutics being developed here. The author or coauthor of 37 original research articles, he was
awarded a three-year Clinical Investigator
Award from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation in 2008 as well as the New
Innovator/Directors Award from the National
Institutes of Health that same year.
Bryan Schneider, MD—Associate Professor.
Dr. Schneider is focused on experimental
therapeutics in lung/esophageal cancer and
participates in the Phase I Program. He serves as
Associate Medical Director of the Cancer Center
Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) in charge of the Adult
Infusion Centers and the Ambulatory Treatment
Center. Dr. Schneider was a fellow at the
University of Michigan from 2002-2005, and was
with the division as an assistant professor until
2008. He has spent the last six years at New York Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York.
Dr. Buckanovich and Dean Woolliscroft
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 5
Faculty Distinction
James M. Rae, PhD, installed as Thomas H. Simpson Collegiate Professor of Cancer Research
James M. Rae, PhD, holds a joint appointment in the University of Michigan Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Pharmacology. He received a BS in biology from the University of Pittsburgh and a PhD in pharmacology from
Georgetown University, where he trained with Marc E. Lippman, MD, and David A. Flockhart, MD, PhD, in the Lombardi
Cancer Center. Dr. Rae was recruited to the University of Michigan in 2001 as a research investigator.
Dr. Rae’s combined experiences with breast cancer research and molecular pharmacology in Drs. Lippman’s and Flockhart’s laboratories, respectively, led him to enter the field of personalized medicine.
Dr. Rae has played a significant role in the field of breast cancer. He has developed an extensive network of collaborators locally, nationally, and internationally, to study how inherited genetic variants affect the way patients activate and
eliminate certain drugs, in particular anti-estrogen agents such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.
Dr. Rae with Dean Woolliscroft
Dr. Rae is the executive officer of translational research for SWOG, the largest clinical oncology cooperative trials
group in the United States. He is responsible for overseeing the group’s translational medicine efforts and biorepository,
and also serves as a SWOG representative on the National Cancer Institute’s Group Banking Committee. Dr. Rae also co-chairs the Translational Breast Cancer
Research Foundation’s Endocrine Resistance Working Group.
Dr. Rae serves on the editorial boards of biomedical research journals and is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research, the American Society
of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Clinical Trials Network.
A creative and dedicated teacher, Dr. Rae has also served as mentor to several graduate students in the Department of Pharmacology.
Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD, installed as Ray and Ruth Anderson—Laurence M. Sprague Memorial Research Professor
Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD, is a world-renowned pioneer and leader in the field of blood-based microRNA biomarkers. After earning his bachelor’s degree in
biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in 1990, he came to the University of Michigan where he earned both a doctorate in cell and molecular biology
and a medical degree in 1997. He stayed on for his internship and residency in internal medicine.
Dr. Tewari then moved to Boston where he completed his Oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Following a postdoctoral research fellowship in
systems biology and genetics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School, he joined the faculty of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in
Seattle in 2005. It was during his time at Harvard that Dr. Tewari first became intrigued by microRNAs (miRNAs). In Seattle, he focused his attention on miRNAs.
His research has revealed that miRNAs are released from cancer cells into the bloodstream and circulate in a highly stable form, which has led to burgeoning interest in circulating miRNAs as biomarkers for cancer and other diseases. He continues to investigate both the biology and clinical
applications of extracellular RNA, including minimally invasive methods for disease monitoring using human biofluids.
Dr. Tewari has served as principal investigator for numerous grants from the NIH, the DOD, academic institutions and
foundations. He has received multiple awards for innovation, including the Damon-Runyon Rachleff Innovation Award, which he
received in 2009, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers awarded by President Barack Obama in
2010.
A creative and dedicated mentor to his trainees, past and present, Dr. Tewari also serves on a wide variety of professional
panels and committees, presents his work nationally and internationally, and maintains a clinical practice as an attending oncologist. In 2014, eager to take his work to the next step, he returned to his alma mater, a place where researchers in molecular biology and clinical oncology can intersect powerfully with those in bioengineering, tech transfer, bioinformatics, computer
science, and health economics and policy.
Dr. Tewari with Joseph C. Kolars, MD
Page 6
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Faculty Distinction
Dean’s Awards
2014 Dean’s League of Research
Excellence
Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD, was inducted
into the Dean’s League of Research
Excellence, which celebrated the
phenomenal success of the U-M Medical
School’s elite research faculty. Selected
individuals are those that have
demonstrated research excellence in all
or one of the following areas:
collaborations and team science, publications, seminal
discoveries, entrepreneurial endeavors, and national/
international prominence in his/her field.
2014 Dean’s Faculty Awards
Clinical and Health
Services Research Award
Moshe Talpaz, MD
David C. Smith, MD
Scott D. Gitlin, MD, was selected as a member of the Hematology Board of the American
Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).
Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, was honored as the 2015 Giant of Cancer Care in Genitourinary
Cancer. The Giants of Cancer Care program, sponsored by OncLive, celebrates individuals who
have achieved landmark success within the field of oncology and is the premier oncology award
in the country aiming to recognize and celebrate physicians who have made significant
contributions to the cure and treatment of those living with cancer.
Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO, has been elected President of the American Society of Clinical
Oncology (ASCO) for the term beginning in June 2016.
Mark S. Kaminski, MD, received a distinction of a unique sort. A grateful patient has named
an Ann Arbor building in his honor. The building, named “The Mark” is currently under
construction on Liberty Street.
John Krauss, MD, is chairman elect of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Health Information Technology Work Group.
Pavan Reddy, MD, has been elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP). AAP
membership is comprised of investigators who focus on basic, disease-oriented, patientoriented, or epidemiology research. The goals of its members include the pursuit of medical
knowledge, and the advancement through experimentation and discovery of basic and clinical
science and their application to clinical medicine.
Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD, has been inducted into the American Society for Clinical
Investigation (ASCI). The ASCI represents active physician-scientists who are at the bedside,
the research bench, and at the blackboard. The society elects up to 80 new members annually
for their significant research accomplishments. Members must be 50 years of age or younger
at the time of election. Therefore, election reflects accomplishments by members early in their
careers.
Catherine Van Poznak, MD, is chair of the Lifelong Learning Subcommittee of ASCO, and
chair elect of ASCO’s Continuing Medical Education Subcommittee.
Outstanding Clinician Award
Gregory P. Kalemkerian, MD
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Shaomeng Wang, PhD, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
(NAI). Election as an NAI fellow is a professional distinction given to academic inventors who
have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions
that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of
society. Dr. Wang is an inventor on 38 issued U.S. patents and several pending patent
applications, many of which have been licensed to three startup companies: Ascenta
Therapeutics, Ascentage Pharma and OncoFusion Therapeutics, which Wang co-founded.
Page 7
Faculty Distinction
Department of Internal Medicine Awards
Academiae Laureati Medici
The Department of Internal Medicine’s Clinical Excellence Society, Academiae Laureati
Medici, recognizes those faculty who exude and demonstrate clinical excellence towards
their patients and colleagues. Anne Schott, MD was inducted into the society. Mark
Kaminski, MD was re-elected as President, and Gregory Kalemkerian, MD was
elected as Councilor.
Division of
Hematology/Oncology
Annual Awards
Mark Roth Award (Fellow’s Award)
Lan Coffman
Vedran Radojcic
Division Teacher of the Year
Larry Baker
Sumi Sood
Division Chief’s Award
Moshe Talpaz, MD
Shining Star Award (Fellow’s Award)
Josh Wilfong
Internal Medicine Faculty Award
Grace Chen, MD, PhD, received the Jerome Conn Excellence in Research
Award. The Jerome Conn Award is given for outstanding research
investigation by a physician scientist at the assistant professor level. It is
named after Jerome Conn, the former division chief of endocrinology who
was the first to describe primary hyperaldosteronism later known as
Conn’s syndrome. Past Hematology/Oncology Division recipients of this
award include Drs. Kathleen Cooney and Pavan Reddy.
Internal Medicine Staff Award
Joann Sherman, HemOnc Fellowship administrator, received an
Excellence in Administration award.
UMHS Comprehensive Cancer Center
Page 8
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Junior Faculty Achievement
2014-2015
Highlights of Grants/Clinical Trials
Awarded to Junior Faculty
NIH R21 (Chen)
NIH R01 (Chiang)
NIH K08 (Khoriaty)
American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award
(Caram, Palmbos)
American Society of Hematology Scholar Award (Chiang, Khoriaty)
American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (Magenau,
Radojcic, Toubai)
V Foundation for Cancer Research (Li)
Concern Foundation (Chiang)
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Wilcox)
Pardee Foundation (Parkin, Magenau)
Rally Foundation (Chiang)
Bear Necessities (Chiang)
Bayer Early Career Investigator Award (Sood)
MICHR Bench to Bedside Translational Award (Khoriaty)
New Clinical Trials (Alva, Burness, Cole, Magenau, Morikawa,
Nguyen, Pawarode, Phillips, Sahai, Wilcox)
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Selected Highlights
Monika Burness, MD, received funding from MICHR (Michigan Institute
for Clinical and Health Research) for her pilot project titled “Targeting
Cancer Stem Cells via IL-6 Signaling in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.”
This study will lay the foundation for pivotal early phase clinical trials to
evaluate the safety and efficacy of cytokine‐targeted therapy for
patients with TNBC, specifically with a novel gp130 inhibitor.
Dr. Burness also received the inaugural University of Michigan
Comprehensive Cancer Center Dr. Frank Limpert Clinical Scholar Award.
She was selected based on her novel and promising work in breast
cancer stem cells. Additionally, she received a University of Michigan
Health System Lefkofsky Family Foundation Scholar Award.
Phillip Palmbos, MD, PhD, focuses his research on understanding the
molecular drivers of bladder cancer formation. He has identified the
oncogene, ATDC/TRIM29, as important driver in invasive basal bladder
tumors where it promotes tumor growth and invasion. He was awarded
the ASCO Young Investigator Award for this work in 2014, and received
the Miriam Gleberman Young Investigator Award from the Bladder
Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN). Dr. Palmbos’ lab is located at the
NCRC in the Translational Oncology Program.
Brian Parkin, MD, focuses his research on translational genomics of
acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), specifically the association of
genomic aberrations with relapsed and chemorefractory AML, as well as
the development of novel methods of genomic minimal residual disease
detection. He published “Integrated Genomic Profiling, Therapy
Response, and Survival in Adult Acute Myelogenous Leukemia” in the
journal Clinical Cancer Research this year, which examined the interplay
of gene mutations and DNA copy number aberrations and their effect on
clinical outcomes. He was the recipient of the American Society of Blood
and Marrow Transplantation New Investigator Award in 2013 and
received a grant from the Pardee Foundation in 2014 to further his work
studying rare variant detection and clonal dynamics of AML in complete
remission.
Page 9
Education
Fellowship Program
ACGME Fellowship Program in Hematology/Oncology
Trainees rotate through inpatient services and outpatient continuity clinics and have the opportunity to focus on a research project with a faculty mentor. Dr. Francis Worden directs this program,
along with Drs. Dale Bixby and Patrick Hu, who serve as associate directors. We thank Dr.
Ronald Buckanovich for his service and leadership as associate director for the last six years.
L-R: Drs. Bixby, Buckanovich, Hu and Worden
We prepare our fellows to be creative and productive contributors as both cutting-edge researchers and astute clinicians. This is evidenced by a number of our
trainees having abstracts accepted for publication or presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society of Hematology
(ASH), or the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meetings.
Our program combines well-rounded clinical training with the opportunities to work with world-class investigators in a collegial environment. Our combined Hematology/Oncology three-year clinical training program features a diversified patient care experience on busy hematology and oncology inpatient services, consultative services, the bone marrow transplantation program, and outpatient clinics at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the nearby
Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Educational Programs
Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Many of our faculty are involved in the education of students interested in
scientific research careers through the U-M Medical School’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) which is designed to build
partnerships with first/second year students and faculty researchers. Our
faculty also participate in:






Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS)
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
Residency Program in Internal Medicine
Our faculty teach residents in multiple settings, including inpatient services,
outpatient clinics, and in clinical and laboratory research activities.
U-M Medical Students: Dr. Asra Ahmed leads the
Hematology sequence for second year medical students.
Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)
Graduate Program in Immunology
Graduate Program in Cancer Biology
Biological Sciences Scholars Program (BSSP)
Global Health Initiative/Global Reach
Many of our faculty also have established both formal and informal
mentorship relationships with undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral
students.
Page 10
Faculty Development: Drs. Asra Ahmed and Rashmi
Chugh both serve on the Internal Medicine Education
Committee which is charged with developing a faculty
development process centered on education.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
HemOnc Fellows
2015
Graduating Fellow
Destinations
University of Michigan
Cancer Center
Elizabeth Davis, MD
Sumana Devata, MD
Raymond Esper, MD, PhD
Vedran Radojcic, MD
Washington University
Leonel Hernandez Aya,
MD
Stanford University
Palliative Fellowship
Joshua Wilfong, DO
Fellowship website: http://www.med.umich.edu/intmed/hemonc/fellows/index.html
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 11
Patient Care
CLINICAL SERVICES
Inpatient Clinical Services
University Hospital
 Oncology (Internal Medicine Residency Service)
 Hematology (Internal Medicine Residency
Service)
 Chemotherapy Service
C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s
Hospital (C&W)
 Blood and Marrow Transplant
(Non-Residency Service)
 Hematology (Non-Residency Service)
 Acute Leukemia
Outpatient Clinical Services
Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor
 CCC Team 1 (Adult Hematology)
 CCC Team 2 (Medical Oncology)
 CCC Team 3 (GU Oncology)
 CCC Team 5 (Breast Oncology)
 CCC Team 6 (Melanoma, Genetics)
 CCC Team 7 (Gynecological Oncology)
 Infusion Services
C. S. Mott Children’s & Von Voigtlander Women’s
Hospital (C&W)
 Adult Blood & Marrow Transplant
 Adult Acute Leukemia Clinic
 Infusion Services
Canton & Northville Health Centers
 Hematology
 Oncology
 Infusion Services
Page 12
New Clinic Locations
Northville—opened July 15, 2014. The new
Northville Health Center opened July 15, 2014.
The new facility boasts 100,000 square feet of
clinical and diagnostic space. An estimated 160
patients were seen in FY15 at this new location
where a full suite of Hematology and Oncology
services are offered. Dr. Albert Quiery oversees
hematology patients and Dr. John Krauss oversees oncology patients. Dr. Krauss is Medical
Director, Canton and Northville Infusion Services.
In March of 2015, our Adult Acute Leukemia Clinics moved to the C.S. Mott Children’s and
Von Voightlander Women’s Hospital to more closely align with the services provided there by the
Blood and Marrow Transplant Group.
New Thyroid Cancer Research website
A new website devoted to thyroid cancer research at the U-M
Health System called ThyCare (THYroid CAncer REsearch), has
been developed to give visibility to the program and information
to patients. The website highlights the staff, faculty, and students working on thyroid cancer projects, as well as their publications, and research news. The thyroid cancer research group
is represented by two teams, which are profiled on the website:
the Thyroid Cancer Health Services Research Team, headed by
Megan Haymart, MD, and the Thyroid Cancer Clinical Trials Team, headed by Francis (Frank)
Worden, MD.
The web address for the new site is: https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/thycare/home.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Drug Discovery
About the Program
These faculty are working on drug discovery, pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics.
Shaomeng Wang, PhD, runs a substantial laboratory on the NCRC campus conducting drug design, synthesis, and development of smallmolecule therapeutics for the treatment of human cancers, as well as development of new computational methods of drug design.
Selected Publications
Wang S, Sun W, Zhao Y, McEachern D, Meaux I, Barrière C, Stuckey JA, Meagher JL, Bai L, Liu L, Hoffman-Luca CG, Lu J, Shangary S, Yu S,
Bernard D, Aguilar A, Dos-Santos O, Besret L, Guerif S, Pannier P, Gorge-Bernat D, Debussche L. SAR405838: an optimized inhibitor of
MDM2-p53 interaction that induces complete and durable tumor regression. Cancer Res. 2014 Oct 15;74(20):5855-65. Epub 2014 Aug 21.
PMID 25145672
Zhao Y, Aguilar A, Bernard D, Wang S. Small-molecule inhibitors of the MDM2-p53 protein-protein interaction (MDM2 Inhibitors) in clinical trials for cancer treatment. J Med Chem. 2015 Feb 12;58(3):1038-52. Epub 2014 Nov 14. Review. PMID 25396320
Hoffman-Luca CG, Ziazadeh D, McEachern D, Zhao Y, Sun W, Debussche L, Wang S. Elucidation of Acquired Resistance to Bcl-2 and MDM2 Inhibitors in Acute
Leukemia In Vitro and In Vivo. Clin Cancer Res. 2015 Jun 1;21(11):2558-68. Epub 2015 Mar 9. PMID 25754349
Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD holds a secondary appointment with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and is also a member of the Biointerfaces Institute and Center for Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics (CCMB). Dr. Tewari’s laboratory is best known for its discoveries in the
biology of extracellular microRNAs. His groundbreaking research bridges disciplines including molecular biology, clinical oncology, bioengineering
and computer science. His team is focused on reducing cancer mortality by developing a next generation of biomarker approaches to enable
earlier detection of cancer, more effective use of new therapies such as immunotherapy, and improved non-invasive methods for long-term follow-up and care of cancer survivors. They are accomplishing this by bringing together concepts and approaches from molecular oncology, engineering, and information technology, to enable cancer detection and monitoring to be done non-invasively at home, in an internet-connected
way over extended periods of time.
Dr. Tewari received a $3.3 million U01 grant from the NIH Extracellular RNA Communication Program to characterize extracellular RNA in body
fluids from healthy individuals using next generation sequencing methods. The purpose of this five-year project is to discover the universe of extracellular RNAs
present in healthy people, as well as to study the absorption of RNA ingested in food into the circulation of healthy individuals. Co-Investigators on the study include Drs. Hui Jiang, Saravana Dhanasekaran and Arul Chinnaiyan at U-M, as well as Drs. Florian Hladik, Johanna Lampe and Julie McElrath the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA.
Selected Publication
Chevillet JC, Kang Q, Ruf IK, Briggs HA, Vojtech LN, Hughes SM, Cheng HH, Arroyo JD, Meredith EK, Gallichotte EN, Pogosova-Agadjanyane EL, Morrissey C,
Stirewalt DL, Hladik F, Yu EY, Higano CS, Tewari M. Quantitative and stoichiometric analysis of the microRNA content of exosomes. PNAS (USA), 2014; 111
(41): 14888-93. Epub 2014 Sep 29. PMID 25267620
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 13
Experimental Therapeutics
About the Program
Phase I Faculty
This past year brought many changes to the
Phase I program. There has been a significant
increase in patients being referred to open slots
in accruing Phase I clinical trials. Monthly
meetings are utilized to further develop and refine this novel program.
Monika Burness, MD, is investigating novel therapies to improve treatment options for patients with breast cancer.
During FY15, Phase I
researchers opened 15
clinical studies and
enrolled 76 patients
Rashmi Chugh, MD, is actively engaged in clinical trials in connective
tissue oncology and experimental therapeutics.
Bryan Schneider, MD, has a strong background in clinical and translational studies with interests in the area of diagnosis and novel treatment
for lung cancer.
Selected Publications
Hurwitz HI, Smith DC, Pitot HC, Brill JM, Chugh R, Rouits E, Rubin J, Strickler J,
Vuagniaux G, Sorensen JM, Zanna C. Safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamic properties of oral DEBIO1143 (AT-406) in patients with advanced
cancer: results of a first-in-man study. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2015
Apr;75(4):851-9. doi: 10.1007/s00280-015-2709-8. Epub 2015 Feb 27. PMID
25716544
Richardson PG, Baz R, Wang M, Jakubowiak AJ, Laubach JP, Harvey RD, Talpaz
M, Berg D, Liu G, Yu J, Gupta N, Di Bacco A, Hui AM, Lonial S. Phase 1 study
of twice-weekly ixazomib, an oral proteasome inhibitor, in relapsed/refractory
multiple myeloma patients. Blood. 2014 Aug 14;124(7):1038-46. PMID
24920586
Smith DC, Kalebic T, Infante JR, Siu LL, Sullivan D, Vlahovic G, Kauh JS, Gao F,
Berger AJ, Tirrell S, Gupta N, Di Bacco A, Berg D, Liu G, Lin J, Hui AM,
Thompson JA. Phase 1 study of ixazomib, an investigational proteasome inhibitor, in advanced non-hematologic malignancies. Invest New Drugs. 2015
Jun;33(3):652-63. doi: 10.1007/s10637-015-0230-x. Epub 2015 Mar 18.
PMID 25777468
Smith DC, Eisenberg PD, Manikhas G, Chugh R, Gubens MA, Stagg RJ, Kapoun
AM, Xu L, Dupont J, Sikic B. A phase I dose escalation and expansion study
of the anticancer stem cell agent demcizumab (anti-DLL4) in patients with
previously treated solid tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 Dec 15;20(24):6295303. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-14-1373. Epub 2014 Oct 16. PMID
25324140
Page 14
Top Row:
Drs. Burness, Chugh
and Schneider
Bottom Row:
Drs. Phillips, Smith
and Talpaz
Tycel Phillips, MD, is conducting experimental therapeutics with a focus
on hematologic malignancies.
David Smith, MD, is a physician investigator conducting experimental
therapeutics in addition to his other clinical and leadership responsibilities.
Moshe Talpaz, MD, is a clinical investigator conducting experimental
therapeutics in addition to his other clinical and leadership responsibilities.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Hematology
About the Program
Our 21 active program faculty engage in patient care, educational activities, and research related to benign and malignant hematology. Among our specialists are faculty who focus on specific disease groups: blood and coagulation disorders, myeloproliferative neoplasms, myelofibrosis, lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma.
Our researchers are exploring exciting opportunities in the areas of disease prevention, understanding predictive and diagnostic biomarkers related to disease progression, and identification of molecular targets to develop novel therapeutic
treatments of patients with hematologic diseases.
Selected Publications
Burgess MR, Hwang E, Firestone AJ, .. Li Q. Preclinical efficacy of MEK inhibition in Nras mutant AML. Blood. 2014 Dec
18;124(26):3947-55. PMID 25361812
Contreras-Galindo R, Kaplan MH, Dube D, Gonzalez-Hernandez MJ, Chan S, Meng F, Dai M, Omenn GS, Gitlin SD, Markovitz DM. Human Endogenous Retroviruses Type-K (HERV-K) virus particles package and transmit HERV-K-related
sequences. J Virol. 2015 Jul;89(14):7187-201. PMID 25926654
Jones M, Chase J, Brinkmeier M, Xu J, Weinberg DN, Schira J, Friedman A, Malek S, Grembecka J, Cierpicki T, Dou Y,
Camper SA, Maillard I. Ash1 controls quiescence and self-renewal potential in hematopoietic stem cells. J Clin Invest. 2015 May;125(5):2007-20. Epub 2015 Apr 13. PMID 25866973
Hematology
researchers opened
16 new clinical trials
and
enrolled 83 patients
Kocak H, Ballew BJ, Bisht K, .. Suman S, O’Neil A, Giri N, NCI DCEG Cancer Genomics Research laboratory, NCI DCEG
Cancer Sequencing Working Group, Maillard I, Alter BP, Keegan CE, Nandakumar J, Savage SA. HoyeraalHreidarsson syndrome caused by a germline mutation in the TEL patch of the telomere protein TPP1. Genes Dev.
2014 Oct 1;28(19):2090-192. Epub 2014 Sep 18. PMID 25233904
Peterson LF, Sun H, Liu Y, Potu H, Kandarpa M, Ermann M, Courtney SM, Young M, Showalter HD, Sun D, Jakubowiak A,
Malek SN, Talpaz M, Donato NJ. Targeting deubiquitinase activity with a novel small molecule inhibitor as therapy
for B-cell malignancies. Blood. 2015 Jun 4;125(23):3588-97. Epub 2015 Mar 26. PMID 25814533
Stein BL, Gotlib J, Arcasoy, M, Nguyen MH.. Talpaz M, et al. Historical views, conventional approaches, and evolving
management strategies for myeloproliferative neoplasms. JNCCN. 2015 Apr;13(4):424-34. PMID 25870379
Talpaz M, Mercer J, Hehlmann R. The interferon-alpha revival in CML. Ann Hematol. 2015 Apr;94 Suppl 2:s195-207.
Epub 2015 Mar 27. PMID 25814086
Yildiz M, Li H, Bernard D, Amin NA, Ouillette P, Jones S, Saiya-Cork K, Parkin B, Jacobi K, Shedden K, Wang S, Chang
AE, Kaminski MS, Malek SN. Activating STAT6 mutations in follicular lymphoma. Blood. 2015 Jan 22; 125(4):668
-79. Epub 2014 Nov 26. PMID 25428220
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 15
Hematology Faculty
Asra Ahmed, MD, is a medical hematologist with a clinical
focus on lymphoma, myeloma and coagulation disorders.
Dr. Ahmed also directs the second year medical student
hematology sequence.
Dale Bixby, MD, PhD, specializes in clinical research to
develop therapeutic trials for the treatment of leukemia.
He also serves as co-director of the fellowship program for
the division and is the director of Inpatient Hematology.
Paula Bockenstedt, MD, specializes in general
hematology with emphasis in autoimmune hematologic
disorders and disorders of hemostasis such as ITP, antiphospholipid syndrome, thrombophilia and hemophilia. Dr.
Bockenstedt is the director of the Adult Coagulation
Disorders Program and participates in multi-center studies
of thrombosis, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APLS)
and congenital hemophilic disorders.
Patrick Burke, MD—Dr. Burke is currently focusing his
research on early phase clinical trials in acute leukemias
and is treating patients with hematologic malignancies in
the Cancer Center.
Erica Campagnaro, MD, is focused on clinical research
to improve outcomes in patients with multiple myeloma.
Page 16
Mark Chiang, MD, PhD, sees patients with hematologic
malignancies. His research program is focused on leukemia, notch
signaling, hox transcription factors, leukemia stem cells, and mouse
modeling.
Craig Cole, MD, specializes in multiple myeloma and consultative
general hematology. His research is focused on developing clinical
trials for multiple myeloma.
Scott Gitlin, MD, treats patients with all types of malignant and non
-malignant hematologic disorders, including bleeding and clotting
diseases and other hematologic disorders. His laboratory research
focuses on the role of viruses in oncogenesis.
Mark Kaminski, MD, treats lymphoma patients and conducts
clinical research focused on developing therapeutic trials for the
treatment of lymphoma. He is internationally known for his work in
radioimmunotherapy (RIT). Dr. Kaminski is the director of the
Multidisciplinary Lymphoma Clinic.
Rami Khoriaty, MD, is pursuing research focused on understanding
the pathophysiology of congenital dyserythropoietic anemias and the
process of erythropoiesis. Dr. Khoriaty treats patients with
myeloproliferative neoplasms and other myeloid neoplasms.
Lisa Kujawski, MD, is a hematologist with a clinical and research
focus on the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes and acute/
chronic leukemias, palliative medicine and symptom management.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Hematology Faculty
Qing Li, MD, PhD, conducts research focused on signaling
pathways in normal hematopoietic stem cells and leukemic
stem cells. She treats patients with hematologic malignancies.
Albert Quiery, Jr., MD, is the director of General Hematology
in the Cancer Center, and the Team One Leader in the Cancer
Center. His clinical focus is in the areas of immunohematology, hemoglobinopathies, hemostasis, and thrombosis. His
academic interest is in bioethics and the medical humanities.
Dr. Quiery sees patients at the Cancer Center and the new
Northville Health Center.
Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD, is a member of the Life Sciences
Institute where he researches hematopoiesis, hematopoietic
stem cells, Notch signaling, and T-cell immunity. He treats
patients with hematological malignancies and directs the
University of Michigan’s Leukemia Program.
Samuel Silver, MD, PhD, FASCO, specializes in bleeding
disorders, platelet dysfunction, porphyria, myeloproliferative
and myelodysplastic disorders, as well as quality of care. Dr.
Silver also serves as Assistant Dean for Research, U-M Medical
School.
Sami Malek, MD, treats patients with leukemia. His
laboratory focuses on genetics and bio-markers related to
chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and lymphoma and the
identification of targeted therapeutic treatment options.
Suman Sood, MD, treats patients and conducts research
related to thrombosis, acquired hemophilia, bio-markers of
venous thrombosis, novel anticoagulants, and bleeding
disorders in women.
Marie Huong T. Nguyen, MD, treats patients with
hematologic malignancies, with a clinical focus on
myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Her research focuses
on early phase clinical trials in myelofibrosis and other MPNs.
Moshe Talpaz, MD, treats leukemia patients and conducts
clinical research on hematologic malignancies, particularly
leukemia, to develop novel therapeutic options for patients.
Tycel Phillips, MD, treats patients with lymphoma. He
conducts clinical research related to lymphomas and Phase I/II
studies.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Ryan Wilcox, MD, PhD, treats patients with lymphomas. His
research is focused on understanding the T-cell lymphomas and
the role of host immunity in lymphoproliferative disorders.
Page 17
Blood & Marrow Transplant Program
About the Program
The Adult Blood & Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Program, is
headed by Pavan Reddy, MD, the Moshe D. Talpaz Professor of
Translational Oncology. He is also serving as the clinical director of Adult BMT.
The Division welcomed Claudia Diaz-Byrd
as the new BMT Program Administrator in
2014.
The BMT Program performs over 220 transplants per year. Our BMT researchers continue to maintain a prominent presence at
national meetings, including the American Society of Blood and
Marrow Transplantation/Center for International BMT Research
and the American Society of Hematology.
The Program has piloted an Ambulatory Treatment Center (ATC)
which concentrated care of early post-transplant for autologous
patients through day 30 and through day 100 for allogeneic patients. This has impacted outcomes with a reduction in readmission rate.
The Program includes an extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP)
unit that is one of the largest in the world.
Selected Publications
Choi SW, Gatza E, Hou G, Sun Y, Whitfield J, Song Y, Oravecz-Wilson K, Tawara I, Dinarello CA, Reddy P. Histone deacetylase inhibition regulates inflammation and
enhances Tregs after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in humans.
Blood. 2015;125(5):815-9. Epub 2014 Nov 28. PMID 25428224
Choi SW, Reddy P. Current and emerging strategies for the prevention of graft-versushost disease. Nat Reviews Clin Oncol. 2014;11(9):536-47. Epub 2014/06/25. doi:
10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.102. PMID 24958183
Keusch F, Rao R, Chang L, Lepkowski J, Reddy P, Choi SW. Participation in clinical research: perspectives of adult patients and parents of pediatric patients undergoing
hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2014;20
(10):1604-11. Epub 2014 Jun. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2014.06.020. PMID 24972252
Magenau JM, Braun T, Reddy P, Parkin B, Pawarode A, Mineishi S, Choi S, Levine
J, Li Y, Yanik G, Kitko C, Churay T, Frame D, Riwes MM, Harris A, Bixby D, Couriel DR, Goldstein SC . Allogeneic transplantation with myeloablative FluBu4 conditioning improves survival compared to reduced intensity FluBu2 conditioning for
acute myeloid leukemia in remission. Ann Hematol. 2015;94(6):1033-41. Epub
2015 Mar19. doi: 10.1007 s00277-015-2349-4. PMID 25784222
Sun Y, Oravecz-Wilson K, Mathewson N, Wang Y, McEachin R, Liu C, Toubai T, Wu J,
Rossi C, Braun T, Saunders T, Reddy P . Mature T cell responses are controlled by
microRNA-142. J Clin Invest. 2015;125(7):2825-40. Epub 2015 Jun 23. doi:
10.1172/jci78753. PMID 26098216
Sun Y, Wang Y, Toubai T, Oravecz-Wilson K, Liu C, Mathewson N, Wu J, Rossi C, Cummings E, Wu D, Wang S, Reddy P. BET bromodomain inhibition suppresses graftversus-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice. Blood.
2015;125(17):2724-8. Epub 2015 Mar. doi: 10.1182/blood-2014-08-598037. PMID
25778533
BMT researchers opened
three new clinical trials
and enrolled 39 patients
Page 18
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
BMT Faculty
Steven Goldstein, MD, specializes in
stem cell transplantation and conducts
clinical research in the treatment of
hematologic malignancies and the
prevention and treatment of GVHD.
Attaphol Pawarode, MD, specializes
in stem cell transplantation and
conducts clinical research in BMT for
lymphoid diseases.
John Magenau, MD, specializes in
stem cell transplantation and conducts
clinical research in the treatment of
complications and prevention of
relapse after BMT.
Pavan Reddy, MD, specializes in
stem cell transplantation and
conducts translational and laboratory
research focused on blood and
marrow transplantation, specifically in
GVHD and graft-versus-leukemia
(GVL).
Brian Parkin, MD, specializes in the
treatment of acute myeloid leukemia
(AML) and bone marrow transplantation. He conducts laboratory research
focusing on genomic biomarker
discovery and validation as well as
determining the mechanisms of
therapy resistance and relapse of AML
before and after allogeneic stem cell
transplantation.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander
Women’s Hospitals—home of the BMT Clinical
Service.
Mary Mansour Riwes, DO,
specializes in stem cell transplantation
and conducts clinical research in
leukemia and hematopoietic stem cell
transplantation.
Page 19
Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology
About the Program
Seven division faculty clinicians and researchers,
working with colleagues across other disciplines,
are part of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Program. The program is focused on the care and
treatment of patients with colorectal, pancreatic,
gastric, and liver malignancies.
The research program is just as collaborative as
the clinical program. It includes more than 40
researchers from 18 departments who have made
significant strides in researching GI cancers.
Their goal has been focused upon what biologic,
genetic and/or molecular processes have to take
place to give rise to the development of GI cancer.
In 2010, the program received a Gastrointestinal
Oncology Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from NIH. The overall goal of
this SPORE is to reduce mortality associated with
GI cancers, specifically colorectal and pancreatic
cancers. This goal will be achieved through identifying and developing interventions to modify molecular based common cancer-associated carcinogenesis and cancer progression processes and
linking them to human investigations.
Page 20
Selected Publications
Kim EJ, Sahai V, Abel EV, Griffith KA, Greenson JK, Takebe N, Khan GN, Blau JL, Craig R, Balis
UG, Zalupski MM, Simeone DM. Pilot clinic trial of hedgehog pathway inhibitor GDC-0449
(vismodegib) in combination with gemcitabine in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 Dec 1;20(23): 5937-45. PMID 25278454.
Pant S, Martin LK, Geyer S, Wei L, Van Loon K, Sommovilla N, Zalupski M, Iyer R, Fogelman
D, Ko AH, Bekaii-Saab T. Treatment-related hypertension as a pharmacodynamic biomarker for the efficacy of bevacizumab in advanced pancreas cancer: A pooled analysis of
4 prospective trials of gemcitabine-based therapy with bevacizumab. Am J Clin Oncol. 2014
Jul 25 Epub ahead of print. PMID 25068471.
Seregin SS, Chen GY, Laouar Y. Dissecting CD8+ NKT cell responses to listeria infection reveals a component of innate resistance. J Immunol. 2015 Aug 1;195(3): 1112-20. Epub
2015 Jun 26. PMID 26116500
Veenstra CM, Regenbogen SE, Hawley ST, Griggs JJ, Banerjee M, Kato I, Ward KC, Morris
AM. A composite measure of personal financial burden among patients with stage III colorectal cancer. Med Care. 2014 Nov; 52(11):957-62. PMID 25304021
Veenstra CM, Epstein AJ, Liao K, Griggs JJ, Pollack CE, Armstrong KA. Hospital academic status and value of care for non-metastatic colon cancer. J Oncol Pract. 2015 May;11(3):e30412. Epub 2015 Apr 21. PMID 25901052
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
GI-Oncology Faculty
Dean Brenner, MD, Kutsche
Memorial Chair of Internal Medicine Professor, specializes in GI
oncology and cancer prevention.
He is the principal investigator of
an NCI-sponsored GI SPORE as
well as an NCI Early Detection
Research Network (EDRN) grant.
Grace Chen, MD, PhD, conducts
laboratory research investigating
the role of the immune system
and gut bacteria in colon cancer
development, and also specializes
in the treatment of patients with
GI malignancies.
Patrick Hu, MD, PhD, conducts
laboratory research focused on c.
elegans as a model for studying
the pathogenesis of cancer. His
clinical interest is in colorectal
cancer.
Vaibhav Sahai, MD, MS, focuses on patients with GI cancers.
His research focus lies in experimental therapeutics in pancreatic
and biliary tract cancer via a molecular-biology based approach in
the laboratory with the aim to
perform clinical and translational
research.
Christine Veenstra, MD, specializes in patients with GI malignancies. Her research is focused
on identifying factors that impact
the quality of colorectal cancer
care, and on developing interventions to improve the receipt of
high quality care.
GI-Oncology researchers
opened seven clinical
trials in FY15 and enrolled
57 patients
Mark Zalupski, MD, conducts
clinical research to develop therapeutic treatment options for GI
cancers and is a senior leader in
the GI Clinic.
John Krauss, MD, sees general
oncology patients at the Canton
and Northville clinics, and colon
cancer patients at the Cancer
Center. Dr. Krauss is Medical
Director, Infusion Services, Canton & Northville Health Centers.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 21
Genitourinary (GU) Oncology
About the Program
The UMCCC has an NIH SPORE for Prostate
Cancer which provides research support for
a substantial amount of translational research conducted by faculty from multiple
disciplines: Urology, Surgery, Radiation
Oncology and Pathology.
Selected Publications
Alva A, Friedlander T, Clark M, Huebner T, Daignault S, Hussain M, Lee C, Hafez K, Hollenbeck B, Weizer A,
Premasekharan G, Tran T, Fu C, Ionescu-Zanetti C, Schwartz M, Fan A, Paris P. Circulating tumor cells as
potential biomarkers in bladder cancer. J Urol. 2015 Sep;194(3):790-8. Epub 2015 Apr 23. PMID
25912492
Beebe-Dimmer JL, Hathcock M, Yee C, Okoth LA, Ewing CM, Isaacs WB, Cooney KA, Thibodeau SN. The HOXB13 G84E mutation is associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer and other malignancies. Cancer
Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. Epub ahead of print 2015 Jun 24. PMID 26108461
Brisset JC, Hoff BA, Chenevert TL, Jacobson JA, Boes JL, Galbán S, Rehemtulla A, Johnson TD, Pienta KJ, Galbán CJ, Meyer CR, Schakel T, Nicolay K, Alva AS, Hussain M, Ross BD. Integrated multimodal imaging of
dynamic bone-tumor alterations associated with metastatic prostate cancer. PLoS One. 2015 Apr 10;10
(4):e0123877. eCollection 2015. PMID 25859981
Davis EJ, Beebe-Dimmer JL, Yee CL, Cooney KA. Risk of second primary tumors in men diagnosed with prostate cancer: a population-based cohort study. Cancer. 2014 Sep 1;120(17):2735-41. Epub 2014 May 19.
PMID 24842808
Hussain M, Corn PG, Michaelson MD, Hammers HJ, Alumkal JJ, Ryan CJ, Bruce JY, Moran S, Lee S, Lin HM,
George DJ. Investigational single agent orteronel (TAK-700) in patients with nonmetastatic castrationresistant prostate aancer and rising prostate-specific antigen: A Phase II study by the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 20:4218-27. PMID24965748
Hussain M, Rathkopf D, Liu G, Armstrong A, Kelly WK, Ferrari A, Hainsworth J, Joshi A, Hozak RR, Yang L,
Schwartz JD, Higano CS. A randomized non-comparative phase II trial of cixutumumab (IMC-A12) or ramucirumab (IMC-1121B) plus mitoxantrone and prednisone in men with metastatic docetaxel-pretreated castration-resistant prostate cancer. Eur J Cancer. 2015 Sep;51(13):1714-24. Epub 2015 Jun 13. PMID
26082390
GU-Oncology researchers
opened ten
clinical trials in FY15 and
enrolled 56 patients
Page 22
Yu EY, Li H, Higano CS, Agarwal N, Pal SK, Alva A, Heath EI, Lam ET, Gupta S, Lilly MB, Inoue Y, Chi KN, Vogelzang NJ, Quinn DI, Cheng HH, Plymate SR, Hussain M, Tangen CM, Thompson, Jr. SWOG S0925: A
randomized phase 2 study of androgen deprivation combined with cixutumumab versus androgen deprivation alone in patients with new metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2015 May 10;33
(14):1601-08. Epub 2015 Apr 6. PMID 25847934
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
GU-Oncology Faculty
Ajjai Alva, MD, treats patients and conducts clinical research focused on genitourinary (GU) oncology, including
prostate, bladder and kidney cancers. He currently has a UM Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR)
K Award supporting his research.
Phillip Palmbos, MD, PhD, is conducting research on
DNA repair. His current laboratory research focuses on
understanding the molecular mechanisms driving bladder
cancer formation using transgenic and PDX models as well
as in vitro work. His clinical focus is GU malignancy and he
primarily sees patients with bladder and prostate cancers in
the Cancer Center.
Megan Caram, MD, conducts research investigating
minimizing the harm done to patients with cancerdirected therapies and understanding the factors that
guide treatment decisions. She is currently studying the
variation in care of castration-resistant prostate cancer,
including non-evidence-based use of therapies, and investigating the clinical and nonclinical factors that guide
treatment decisions, including patients' access to care
and provider effects on various treatment decisions.
Kathleen Cooney, MD, Frances and Victor Professor of Hematology/Oncology, conducts research related to prostate
cancer genetics and treats patients with prostate cancer.
She is a PI of an NCI T32, Co-PI of the U-M Prostate Cancer
SPORE, PI of a DOD award, and member of the steering
committee for the International Consortium for Prostate
Cancer Genetics.
Bruce Redman, DO, treats patients and conducts clinical
research related to GU cancers and melanoma. His research is directed at the development of novel therapeutic
treatment options for both GU cancers and melanoma.
David Smith, MD, treats patients with testicular, prostate
and bladder cancer and advanced solid tumors. His research
interest is in novel therapeutics and clinical trial design. He is
the PI of multiple clinical trials aimed at the development of
new therapeutic options for patient with advanced solid tumors.
Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, FASCO, Cis Maisel Professor of
Oncology, professor of Medicine and Urology, treats patients
with prostate, bladder and testes cancer. Her clinical research is focused on the development of novel therapeutics
for prostate and bladder cancer and is funded by federal,
foundation and pharmaceutical grants and contracts.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 23
Head & Neck and Thoracic Oncology
About the Program
Selected Publications
The UMCCC has an NIH SPORE for
Head and Neck (H&N) cancer which
strengthens the program by providing support for exciting new research
projects.
Head and neck cancer researchers
work closely with colleagues across
other disciplines: otolaryngology,
radiation oncology, and speech pathology.
Our thoracic oncology faculty focus
on conducting research in close collaboration with colleagues in thoracic
surgery, pulmonary, gastroenterology, radiology and pathology.
Dr. Ramnath conducts a clinical research program at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System
(VAAAHS).
Demirci H, Worden F, Nelson CC, Elner VM, Kahana A. Efficacy of
Vismodegib (Erivedge) for Basal Cell Carcinoma Involving the Orbit
and Periocular Area. Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg. 2015 Feb 11.
Epub ahead of print. PMID 25675162
H&N researchers
opened five clinical trials in FY15 and
enrolled 46 patients
Thoracic researchers
opened four new clinical
trials and enrolled 14
patients
Dy GK, Bogner PN, Tan W, Demmy TL, Farooq A, Chen H, Yendamuri
SS, Nwogu CE, Bushunow PW, Gannon J, Adjei AA, Adjei AA, Ramnath N. Phase II study of perioperative chemotherapy with cisplatin and pemetrexed in non-small-cell lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol.
2014 Feb;9(2):222-30. PMID 24419420
Nadal E, Zhong J, Lin J, Reddy RM, Ramnath N, Orringer MB, Chang
AC, Beer DG, Chen G. A MicroRNA cluster at 14q32 drives aggressive lung adenocardinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 Jun 15;20
(12):3107-17. Epub 2014 May 15. PMID 24833665
Nadal E, Chen G, Prensner JR, Shiratsuchi H, Sam C, Zhao L,
Kalemkerian GP, Brenner D, Lin J, Reddy RM, Chang AC, Capellà
G, Cardenal F, Beer DG, Ramnath N. KRAS-G12C mutation is associated with poor outcome in surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma. J Thorac Oncol. 2014 Oct;9(10):1513-22. PMID 25170638
Ramnath N, Nadal E, Jeon CK, Sandoval J, Colacino J, Rozek LS, Christensen PJ, Esteller M, Beer DG, Kim SH. Epigenetic regulation of
vitamin D metabolism in human lung adenocarcinoma. J Thorac
Oncol. 2014 Apr;9(4):473-82. PMID 24736069
Zhang Z, Shiratsuchi H, Lin J, Chen G, Reddy RM, Azizi E, Fouladdel S,
Chang AC, Lin L, Jiang H, Waghray M, Luker G, Simeone DM,
Wicha MS, Beer DG, Ramnath N*, Nagrath S. Expansion of CTCs
from early stage lung cancer patients using a microfluidic co-culture
model. Oncotarget. 2014 Dec 15;5(23):12383-97. PMID 25474037
(*co-corresponding author)
Page 24
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Head & Neck and Thoracic Faculty
Khaled Hassan, MD, MS, treats patients with
lung cancer. His research lab is focused on lung
cancer stem cells and establishing targeted
therapy to improve patient outcomes.
Gregory Kalemkerian, MD, conducts clinical
research focused on developing therapeutic trials
for the treatment of lung cancer. He is a senior
leader in the Thoracic Oncology Clinic.
Nithya Ramnath, MD, has a joint appointment
with VAAAHS. She treats patients with lung
cancers. Her laboratory research interests
include studying regulation of vitamin D
metabolism in smoking-related lung cancers.
Additionally, she has a research interest in
determining ex-vivo predictors of drug
sensitivity (for targeted therapy) using
circulating tumor cells derived from patients.
Her clinical research interests include studying determinants of
response to immunotherapy in lung cancer. At the VAAAHS, she is co
-PI of a Lung Cancer Screening Demonstration Project and site PI for
Precision Oncology Program for Veterans with cancer.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Bryan Schneider, MD, is focused on
experimental therapeutics in lung/esophageal
cancer and participates in the Phase I Program.
He serves as Associate Medical Director of the
Cancer Center Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) in
charge of the Adult Infusion Centers and the
Ambulatory Treatment Center.
Susan Urba, MD, is the Medical Director of
the UMCCC Symptom Management &
Supportive Care Program. She conducts
clinical research related to esophageal cancer,
head and neck cancer, and palliative care.
Francis Worden, MD, conducts clinic research
directed at the development of novel
therapeutic treatment options for patients with
adrenal and head and neck cancers.
Page 25
Breast & Gynecologic Cancers
About the Program
Selected Publications
We have twelve faculty dedicated to
women’s cancers in the Division of
Hematology/Oncology focusing on
breast cancer and gynecologic
oncology. Academic interests span the
spectrum of disease, including risk and
prevention, adjuvant systemic therapy,
new drug development, tumor
biomarker generation and evaluation,
quality of life studies, and health
sciences research
Cardoso F, Costa A, Norton L, Senkus E .. Merajver SD, et al. ESO-ESMO 2nd international consensus guidelines
for advanced breast cancer (ABC2). Ann Oncol. 2014 Oct; 25(10): 1871-88. Epub 2014 Sep 18. PMID
25234545
Chen YC, Allen SG, Ingram PN, Buckanovich R, Merajver SD, Yoon E. Single cell migration chip for chemotaxisbased microfluidic selection of heterogeneous cell populations. Sci Rep. 2015 May 18; 5:9980. PMID 25984707
Conley SJ, Baker TL, Burnett JP, Thiesen RL, Lazarus D, Peters CG, Clouthier SG, Eliasof S, Wicha MS. CRLX101,
an investigational camptothecin-containing nanoparticle-drug conjugate, targets cancer stem cells and impedes
resistance to antiangiogenic therapy in mouse models of breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2015 Apr;150
(3):559-67. Epub 2015 Apr 2. PMID 25833208
Deng L, Shang L, Bai, S, Chen J, He X, Martin-Trevino R, Chen S, Li X, Meng X, Yu B, Wang X, Liu Y, McDermott
SP, Ariazi AE, Ginestier C, Ibarra I, Ke J, Luther T, Clouthier SG, Xu L, Shan G, Song E, Yao H, Hannon GJ,
Weiss ST, Wicha MS, Liu S. microRNA100 inhibits breast cancer stem cells self-renewal and tumor development. Cancer Res. 2014 Nov 15;74(22):6648-60. Epub 2014 Sep 12. PMID 25217527
Henry NL, Hayes DF, Ramsey SD, Hortobagyi GN, Barlow WE, Gralow JR. Promoting quality and evidence-based
care in early stage breast cancer follow-up (Commentary). J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014 Apr;106(4). Epub 2014
Mar 13. PM24627271
Breast/GynOnc cancer
researchers opened
three clinical trials in
FY15 and enrolled 31
patients
Henry NL, Schott AF, Hayes DF. Assessment of PIK3CA mutations in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2positive breast cancer: clinical validity but not utility. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Oct 10;32(29):3207-9. Epub 2014
Sep 8. PMID 25199749
Paoletti C, Muñiz MC, Thomas DG, Griffith KA, Kidwell KM, Tokudome N, Brown ME, Aung K, Miller MC, Blossom DL,
Schott AF, Henry NL, Rae JM, Connelly MC, Chianese DA, Hayes DF. Development of circulating tumor cellendocrine therapy index in patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2015 Jun
1;21(11):2487-98. Epub 2014 Nov 7. PMID 25381338
Rae JM, Leyland-Jones B, Regan M, Thompson AM. Re: Loss of heterozygosity at the CYP206 locus in breast cancer: implications for germline pharmacogenetic studies. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2015 Mar 26;107(5). PMID
25814445
Schott AF, Perou CM, Hayes DF. Genome medicine in cancer: what's in a name? Cancer Res. 2015 May 15;75
(10):1930-35. Epub 2015 Apr 28. Review. PMID 25920349
Taichman LS, Inglehart MR, Giannobile WV, Braun T, Kolenic G, Van Poznak C. Periodontal health in women with
early stage postmenopausal breast cancer newly on aromatase inhibitors: a pilot study. J Periodontol. 2015
Jul;86(7): 906-16. Epub 2015 Feb 12. PMID 25672657
Page 26
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Breast & GynOnc Faculty
Ronald Buckanovich, MD,
PhD, researches ovarian tumor vasculature and stem cell
niche, with the goal of developing therapeutic treatments
which disrupt cancer stem cell
growth promotion pathways.
He treats patients with gynecologic cancers.
Monika Burness, MD, is investigating novel therapies to
improve treatment options for
breast cancer. She treats patients in the breast cancer clinic.
Jennifer Griggs, MD, MPH,
treats patients in the breast
cancer clinic. Her health services research program addresses quality of care and
patient-physician communication and decision making.
Daniel F. Hayes, MD,
Stuart B. Padnos Professor
of Breast Cancer Research,
is co-director of the UMCCC
Breast Oncology Program. He
conducts clinical and translational research to discover
tumor markers and develop
therapeutic treatments for
patients with breast cancer.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
N. Lynn Henry, MD, PhD,
treats patients in the breast cancer clinic. Her research addresses why patients experience side
effects from treatments, as well
as potential ways to prevent or
manage the side effects. Additionally, she investigates treatments for early stage and metastatic cancer.
Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD, researches the molecular genetics
of breast cancer, BRCA1 gene
functions, angiogenesis, and
cancer risk assessment. She is
also the co-director of the
UMCCC Breast Oncology Program and director of the Breast
and Ovarian Cancer Risk and
Evaluation Program.
Aki Morikawa, MD, PhD, has a
research interest in metastatic
breast cancer, focusing on brain
and leptomeningeal metastases.
She is treating breast cancer
patients.
James Rae, PhD, is a scientist
whose lab focuses on drug metabolism, pharmacogenetics,
pharmacogenomics, and biomarker identification and characterization, particularly as they
apply to the prediction of breast
cancer treatment response.
Anne Schott, MD, treats patients in the breast cancer clinic.
She conducts clinical research
aimed at developing novel therapies for the treatment of breast
cancer.
Jeffrey Smerage, MD, PhD, is
Chief Medical Information Officer
in the Cancer Center. He specializes in the care of breast cancer
patients and conducts clinical research in the areas of tumor
markers and developmental therapeutics.
Catherine Van Poznak, MD,
treats patients in the breast cancer clinic. Her research focuses
on breast cancer and its relationship to bone including osteoporosis, biomarker identification, and
bone metastases.
Max Wicha, MD,
Distinguished Professor of
Oncology, is the founding director of the UMCCC. Dr. Wicha’s
group was part of the team that
first identified cancer stem cells
in human breast cancers, the
first in any solid tumor. His laboratory has developed many of
the techniques and assays used to study these
cells and to elucidate the pathways which regulate their behavior.
Page 27
Sarcoma
About the Program
The Division of Hematology/Oncology
has a strong cadre of faculty devoted to
sarcoma: Drs. Laurence Baker, Rashmi Chugh, and Scott Schuetze. They
specialize in the care of patients with
sarcomas as well as conducting clinical
research to develop novel therapeutic
treatment options.
The Sarcoma Survivorship Clinic was
opened last year to address the unique
medical and psychosocial needs of
young adult and adult sarcoma survivors. This sarcoma survivorship program is a unique coordination of care
between pediatric and adult sarcoma
providers as well as across medical subspecialties. Our aim is to prevent morbidity/lethality of chronic medical conditions and to improve the quality of life in
pediatric, adolescent, young adult, and
older adult survivors.
Researchers opened five
clinical trials in FY15 and
enrolled 36 patients
Page 28
Faculty
Selected Publications
Cobain EF, Chinnaiyan AM, Kurzrock R, Baker LH. Genomic profiling of cancers of unknown primary site:
The next steps. JAMA Oncol. 2015 Jul; 1(4): 542.
PMID 26181268
Chugh R, Griffith KA, Davis EJ, Thomas DG, Zavala JD,
Metko G, Brockstein B, Undevia SD, Stadler WM,
Schuetze SM. Doxorubicin plus the IGF-1R antibody cixutumumab in soft tissue sarcoma: a phase I
study using the TITE-CRM model. Ann Oncol. 2015
Jul;26(7):1459-64. Epub 2015 Apr 9. PMID 25858498
Davis EJ, Chugh R, Zhao L, Lucas DR, Biermann JS, Zalupski MM, Feng M, Wong SL, Jacobson J, Zyczynski
L, Reinke D, Metko G, Baker LH, Schuetze SM. A
randomised, open-label, phase II study of neo/
adjuvant doxorubicin and ifosfamide versus gemcitabine and docetaxel in patients with localised, highrisk, soft tissue sarcoma. Eur J Cancer. 2015 Jun 9.
pii: S0959-8049(15)00441-4. Epub ahead of print.
PMID 26066736
Pappo AS, Vassal G, Crowley JJ, Bolejack V, Hogendoorn
PC, Chugh R, Ladanyi M, Grippo JF, Dall G, Staddon
AP, Chawla SP, Maki RG, Araujo DM, Geoerger B,
Ganjoo K, Marina N, Blay JY, Schuetze SM, et al. A
phase 2 trial of R1507, a monoclonal antibody to the
insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), in patients with recurrent or refractory rhabdomyosarcoma,
osteosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, and other soft tissue
sarcomas: results of a Sarcoma Alliance for Research
Through Collaboration study. Cancer. 2014 Aug
15;120(16):2448-56. Epub 2014 May 2. PMID
24797726
Laurence Baker, DO, Collegiate
Professor of Cancer Developmental
Therapeutics, conducts clinical trials
and is interested in survivorship for
patients with soft tissue and bone
sarcomas.
Rashmi Chugh, MD, treats patients with sarcoma. She is focused on clinical trials related to
sarcoma and experimental therapeutics.
Scott Schuetze, MD, PhD, treats
patients with sarcoma. He conducts clinical research focused on
the development of therapeutic
treatment options for patients with
sarcoma. Dr. Schuetze is also
Medical Director of the UMCCC
Clinical Trials Office.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Endocrine Oncology
About the Program
Dr. Francis Worden collaborates with colleagues across
the UMCCC to treat patients with endocrine cancers. The
Multidisciplinary Endocrine Oncology Clinic is one of only a
few US medical centers recognized as an international center of excellence for the treatment of adrenal cancer. It is
also designated as a UMHS Destination Center, an endeavor
by the Health System to become the provider of choice for
patients around the world.
Selected Publication
Worden F. Treatment strategies for radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated
thyroid cancer. Ther Adv Med Oncol.
2014 Nov;6(6):267-79. PMID 25364392
Researchers enrolled
one patient on clinical
trials during FY15
Melanoma
About the Program
The UMCCC Melanoma Multidisciplinary Clinic, designated as the NCI’s Midwest referral center, offers
patients efficient and expedited care regardless of their disease stage. The skin cancer program was the first
Destination Center in UMHS. Drs. Fecher, Lao and Redman work with colleagues across 15 departments to
provide outstanding patient care and offer novel therapeutic treatments for patients with melanoma.
Drs. Fecher, Lao and Redman
Faculty
Researchers opened three
clinical trials in FY15 and
enrolled 30 patients
Leslie Fecher, MD, has a research and clinical focus on melanoma and other advanced cutaneous tumors.
Chris Lao, MD, conducts experimental therapeutics related to melanoma chemoprevention and treats patients with
melanoma.
Bruce Redman, DO, conducts clinical research related to kidney cancer and melanoma to develop novel therapeutic
treatment options.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Page 29
Veterans Affairs Program
About the Program
The Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor
Healthcare System (AAVA) Hematology-Oncology Section operates in close
partnership with the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of
Michigan in all realms of their shared
missions, with clinical services at the
AAVA centered around Oncology and
Hematology outpatient clinics and inpatient consultative services.
The Section provides the programmatic foundation and leadership for the
Multidisciplinary Cancer Program at
the AAVA, which this year again received full accreditation from the
American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, with full commendation in all seven available categories.
The AAVA is the largest single supporter of the Hematology/Oncology
Fellowship Program, enabling very
diverse educational experiences characterized by immersive patient care
and research experiences.
The Section is actively developing its
clinical research capabilities and options as it expands in response to
enormous growth in patients coming
from throughout Michigan and neighboring states.
The faculty are engaged in diverse
research pursuits including clinical,
translational, outcomes and laboratory
research.
Page 30
Faculty
Kemp Cease, MD, MBA, Section Chief,
cares for patients across the spectrum of
oncology. His research is in the rational
design of vaccines as informed by target
molecular structure.
Dean Brenner, MD, holds the Kutsche
Memorial Professorship of Internal Medicine, and actively conducts research in
gastrointestinal oncology and cancer prevention.
Megan Caram, MD, is clinically focused
on genitourinary cancer, and is actively
engaged in outcomes research in these
patients.
Scott Gitlin, MD, is engaged in the care
of patients with all types of malignant
and non-malignant hematologic disorders, and in advancing subspecialty education.
Jon Oscherwitz, MD, is focused on laboratory research in the development of
novel immunotherapeutics and vaccines
for priority infectious diseases and malignancies.
Tycel Phillips, MD, is a physician investigator focusing on experimental
therapeutics in hematologic malignancies.
Nithya Ramnath, MD, is focused on
the clinical care of lung cancer patients
and has research interests in biomarkers
for prognostic, predictive, and translational use in lung cancer.
Christine Veenstra, MD, MSHP, specializes in gastrointestinal malignancies
and is working to identify factors impacting the quality of colorectal cancer
care.
Lisa Kujawski, MD, has a clinical and
research focus on myelodysplasia, acute
and chronic leukemias, and palliative
medicine.
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Our FY15 Faculty Roster
Research Assistant Professor
Longchuan Bai, PhD
Jianyong Chen, PhD
Jon Oscherwitz, MD
Chao-Yie Yang, PhD
Assistant Research Scientist
Liu Liu, PhD
Jianfeng Lu, PhD
Ming Luo, PhD
Sean P. McDermott, PhD
Luke Peterson, PhD
Yaping Sun, MD, PhD
Research Investigator
Angelo Aguilar, PhD
Shoumei Bai, PhD
Costanza Paoletti, MD
Tomomi Toubai, PhD
Haibin Zhou, PhD
Yongyou Zhu, PhD
Professor
Laurence H. Baker, DO
Dean E. Brenner, MD
Kathleen A. Cooney, MD
William D. Ensminger, MD, PhD*
Scott D. Gitlin, MD
Jennifer J. Griggs, MD
Daniel F. Hayes, MD
Maha Hussain, MD
Gregory Kalemkerian, MD
Mark S. Kaminski, MD
Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD
Pavan Reddy, MD
Bruce G. Redman, MD
Anne F. Schott, MD
Scott M. Schuetze, MD
Samuel M. Silver, MD, PhD
David C. Smith, MD
Moshe Talpaz, MD
Susan Urba, MD
Manuel Valdivieso, MD
Shaomeng Wang, PhD
Max S. Wicha, MD
Francis P. Worden, MD
Mark M. Zalupski, MD
#New Faculty in FY15
*Emeritus Faculty
FY15 Division of Hematology/Oncology Annual Report
Associate Professor
Dale L. Bixby, MD, PhD
Paula Bockenstedt, MD
Ronald J. Buckanovich, MD, PhD
Erica Campagnaro, MD #
Kemp B. Cease, MD
Rashmi Chugh, MD
Leslie Fecher, MD #
Steven C. Goldstein, MD
N. Lynn Henry, MD
Patrick J. Hu, MD, PhD
Christopher D. Lao, MD
Ivan Patrick Maillard, MD
Sami Malek, MD
James M. Rae, PhD
Nithya Ramnath, MD
Jeffrey B. Smerage, MD
Bryan Schneider, MD #
Muneesh Tewari, MD, PhD
Catherine H. Van Poznak, MD
Assistant Professor
Asra Z. Ahmed, MD
Ajjai S. Alva, MD
Grace Y. Chen, MD, PhD
Mark Chiang, MD, PhD
Craig E. Cole, MD
Khaled Hassan, MD
John C. Krauss, MD
Lisa A. Kujawski, MD
Qing Li, MD, PhD
John M. Magenau, MD
Marie Huong T. Nguyen, MD
Attaphol Pawarode, MD
Albert Quiery, MD
Mary Riwes, DO
Vaihab Sahai, MD, MS
Suman Sood, MD
Ryan Wilcox, MD, PhD
Lecturer
Patrick Burke, MD #
Monika Burness, MD
Megan V. Caram, MD
Rami Khoriaty, MD
Aki Morikawa, MD, PhD #
Phillip Palmbos, MD, PhD #
Brian Parkin, MD
Tycel Phillips, MD
Christine M. Veenstra, MD
Page 31
Division of Hematology/Oncology
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
1500 E Medical Center Drive/SPC 5946
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Acknowledgements
Susan Blaisdell, layout, editing and design
Professorship ceremony photos by
Scott C. Soderberg, Michigan Photography
Executive Officers of the University of Michigan Health System: Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs; James O. Woolliscroft, M.D., Dean, U-M Medical
School; T. Anthony Denton, J.D., MHA, Acting Chief Executive Officer, U-M Hospitals and Health Centers; Kathleen Potempa, Ph.D., Dean, School of Nursing.
Regents of the University of Michigan: Michael J. Behm, Mark J. Bernstein, Laurence B. Deitch, Shauna Ryder Diggs, Denise Ilitch, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andrew C. Richner, Katherine E.
White, Mark S. Schlissel, ex officio.
The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University
of Michigan is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the
Senior Director for Institutional Equity, and Title IX/Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-7630235, TTY 734-647-1388, [email protected]. For other University of Michigan information call 734-764-1817.
© 2015 Regents of the University of Michigan