Leadership
Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Systems Biology at MD Anderson, and John Mendelsohn, M.D., Past-President of MD Anderson, are Co-Directors of the Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy. Dr. Mendelsohn has been a leader in the field of targeted cancer therapy since 1980, creating, with his colleagues, the first reported inhibitor of the product of a tyrosine kinase oncogene – monoclonal antibody C225 against the EGF receptor – which ultimately led to the FDA approval of the drug, renamed cetuximab (Erbitux), in 2004. Dr. Mills’ extensive experience with rapidly evolving technology used in the discovery of biomarkers and their application in clinical trials and patient care, directing the Kleberg Center for Molecular Markers, and his visionary T9 program (Ten Thousand Tumors, Ten Thousand Tests, Ten Thousand Therapies) that screens the 40+ most commonly mutationally activated genes, will ensure a timely transition from research to clinic. He designed the T9 program to identify and overcome the hurdles to the first phase of “delivering on the promise of personalized molecular medicine.” Indeed, the approaches developed for T9 will drive the first phase of the genetic and molecular analysis in the Institute. He is leveraging the innovation and discovery of the Kleberg Center for Molecular Markers with the refinements necessary for implementation of CLIA-compliant assays, required for clinical decisions. This approach will allow MD Anderson Cancer Center to lead the county in the rapid and efficient implementation of the next generation of technologies in patient care.
Institute Directors
John Mendelsohn, M.D.
Director, Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy
Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D.
Co-Director, Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy
Funda Meric-Bernstam, M.D.
Medical Director, Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy
Stanley Hamilton, M.D.
Associate Director, Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy
Marshall Hicks, M.D.
Associate Director, Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy
Executive Committee
Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D.
John Mendelsohn, M.D.
Funda Meric-Bernstam, M.D.
Stanley Hamilton, M.D.
Marshall Hicks, M.D.
Liaisons
Ahmed Pancreatic Cancer Center - James Abbruzzese, M.D.
Bioinformatics - John Weinstein, M.D., Ph.D.
Biostatistics - Jack Lee, Ph.D.
Cancer Medicine, Liquid Tumors - Jorge Cortes, M.D.
Cancer Medicine, Solid Tumors - W. K. Alfred Yung, M.D.
Clinical Research Office - Aman Buzdar, M.D.
Duncan Family Institute - Powel Brown, M.D., Ph.D.
Immunology - Patrick Hwu, M.D.
Institute for Cancer Care Excellence - Thomas Feeley, M.D.
Internal Medicine - Robert Gagel, M.D.
Pathology - Ignacio Wistuba, M.D.
Pediatrics - Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D.
Phase I - Robert Wolff, M.D.
Radiation Oncology -Kian Ang, M.D., Ph.D.
Surgery - David Gershenon, M.D.
Underserved Populations - Michael Fisch, M.D., PMPH
United Arab Emirates - Robert Wolff, M.D.
Internal Advisory Board
Kenneth Aldape, M.D., Professor, Department Pathology
Thomas Buchholz, M.D., Provost & EVP Ad Interim, Provost and EVP
Lee Ellis, M.D., Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgical Oncology
Elizabeth Grimm, Ph.D., Deputy Division Head for Research Affairs, Division of Cancer Medicine; Professor, Departments of Experimental Therapeutics and Melanoma Medical Oncology
Waun Ki Hong, M.D., Head, Division of Cancer Medicine; Professor, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
Edward Kim, M.D., Chief, Section of Head and Neck Medical Oncology; Associate Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
Raphael Pollock, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery
Lajos Pusztai, M.D., DPhil, Professor, Breast Medical Oncology
Steven Sherman, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorder
Stephen Swisher, M.D., Professor, Thoracic Surgery
External Advisory Board
Steven Friend, Ph.D., Sage Bionetworks
Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford School of Medicine
Joe W. Gray, Ph.D., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Marc Ladanyi, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
David Ransohoff, M.D., University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D., TGen
Jerry Lanchbury, Ph.D., Myriad Genetics, Inc.