Medical and Scientific Advisory Board
TIMOTHY A. CHAN, MD, PhD
Vice Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Director, Translational Oncology Division
PaineWebber Chair in Cancer Genetics
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
Dr. Chan is a cancer geneticist and physician scientist with an interest in immunogenomics and immunotherapy. He is currently Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Frederick Adler Chair at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). He is a member of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at MSKCC and director of the Division of Translational Oncology of the Department of Radiation Oncology. His main interests are utilizing cancer genomics, functional genomics, and statistical genetics to dissect the molecular determinants of tumor aggressiveness and response to cancer therapies. He led the team that first described mutational burden as a determinant of clinical benefit to immunotherapy and showed that mutational landscapes in lung cancer help determine response to immune checkpoint blockade. His lab is developing pioneering approaches to examine neo-antigen landscapes and the genomic foundations of response to cancer immunotherapy. He has contributed publications as first or senior author in journals such as Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Genetics, New England Journal of Medicine, and Science Translational Medicine.
ANDREW L. KUNG, MD, PhD
Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
An accomplished physician, researcher, leader, and mentor, Dr. Kung is an internationally recognized physician-scientist with a special interest in identifying new targets and developing new treatments for childhood cancer. His translational oncology research has been powered by diverse experimental approaches including genomics, molecular biology, cell biology, drug development, and experimental therapeutics. As Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), Dr. Kung also maintains a clinical practice within the Stem Cell Transplantation Program in addition to leading expansion of the clinical program and heading a program of laboratory-based research. His laboratories use whole-genome sequencing and integrative analysis to identify genetically encoded and non-oncogene vulnerabilities in pediatric cancers. He also continues to search for epigenetic vulnerabilities in a variety of cancer types.
ELAINE R. MARDIS, PhD
Co-Director, Institute for Genomic Medicine at the Research Institutes of Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Professor of Pediatrics
Ohio State University School of Medicine
Columbus, OH
Dr. Mardis has research interests in the application of next-generation sequencing to characterize cancer genomes and transcriptomes, and using these data to support therapeutic decision-making. She co-led the teams that first used next-generation sequencing to characterize the whole genome of an AML patient (Nature 2008), first sequenced and compared a primary tumor to its metastasis and xenograft, and first reported whole genome sequencing of samples from a breast cancer clinical trial. Beyond cancer genomics discoveries, Dr. Mardis is leading efforts to facilitate the translation of basic science discoveries about human genetic diseases into the clinical setting, especially focused on the use of next-generation sequencing. Her translational research efforts aim to devise NGS-based diagnostics, decision-support tools and databases, and the use of genomics to design personalized cancer vaccines.
JOHN MENDELSOHN, MD
Professor, Department of Genomic Medicine
Division of Cancer Medicine
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
Dr. Mendenlsohn is an internationally recognized leader in cancer research, and served as the president of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from 1996 to 2011. He is currently a professor in the Department of Genomic Medicine, Division of Cancer Medicine, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Mendelsohn is an international expert on how the binding of growth factors to cell-surface receptors regulates cell functions. He was part of the team that produced monoclonal antibody 225, which inhibits human cancer cell proliferation by blocking the signaling pathways that are activated by epidermal growth factor receptors. His subsequent research in the laboratory and clinic pioneered the universally adopted concept of anti-receptor therapy that targets key cell signaling pathways as a new form of cancer treatment. Dr. Mendelsohn served 10 years as the founding editor of Clinical Cancer Research, and he has been on numerous editorial boards. He has authored more than 250 scientific papers and articles for journals and books, and is senior editor of the textbook “The Molecular Basis of Cancer.”
FUNDA MERIC-BERNSTAM, MD
Department Chair, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics
Medical Director, Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy
Nellie B. Connally Chair in Breast Cancer Research
Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics
Division of Cancer Medicine
Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology
Division of Surgery
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
Dr. Meric-Bernstam is a Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. She is also a member of the University of Texas at Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Faculty. Dr. Meric-Bernstam graduated Cum Laude from Yale University School of Medicine in 1991 and completed her residency in general surgery at the University of Michigan Medical Center in 1998. In her third year of residency, she joined the National Institutes of Health as a postdoctoral fellow. During her time at the NIH, she received the NIH Intramural National Research Service Award as well as the NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence. After her general surgery residency she did a surgical oncology fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer. She joined M. D. Anderson’s faculty in 2001 as a surgeon and researcher. In 2005, Dr. Meric-Bernstam received the Outstanding Teaching Award for Research from the Department of Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Meric-Bernstam is an active member of the American Medical Association, American Association of Cancer Research, American College of Surgeons, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Society of Surgical Oncology, Society of University Surgeons and the Houston Medical Society. Dr. Meric-Bernstam has authored over 140 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics and Annals of Surgical Oncology. She has also written chapters for more than 15 books.