Prominent Researchers Join OSUCCC – James Team
Among the many brilliant researchers who were recruited to Ohio State’s cancer team in 2017 were these talented individuals:
Kellie Archer, PhD, is a professor and chair of the Division of Biostatistics in the College of Public Health. She also is a member of the Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetics Program at the OSUCCC – James. Her primary research has been the development of statistical methods and computational algorithms for analyzing genomic data. She came to Ohio State from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Edmund Folefac, MBCHB, is an assistant professor in the College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology. He specializes in genitourinary cancers, melanomas and lung cancers. His research focuses on smoking cessation in the context of preventing lung cancer, and on screening, health care efficiency, cancer and aging, and personalized medicine.
Javier Gonzalez, MD, an assistant professor in the College of Medicine, Department of Neurological Surgery, is a neurologist with fellowship training in neuro-oncology and a clinical and research interest in neuro-immunology. He came to Ohio State from West Virginia University, where he started a Multiple Sclerosis Center, headed the neuro-oncology disease team and was in charge of clinical development and the research initiative for those areas.
Valerie Grignol, MD, is a surgical oncologist in the College of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology. She joined the Ohio State medical faculty after completing her fellowship training in surgical oncology here. Grignol treats patients suffering from breast cancer and sarcoma. Her research focuses on clinical trials and outcomes for sarcoma patients.
Lang Li, PhD, was appointed as professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics in Ohio State’s College of Medicine. He also is in the Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetics Program at the OSUCCC – James. Li came to Ohio State from Indiana University School of Medicine, where he directed the Center for Computational Biology and Informatics. Li uses biomedical informatics and systems pharmacology to evaluate drug efficacies and adverse drug events.
Wayne Miles, PhD, is an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Molecular Genetics, and a member of the Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetics Program at the OSUCCC – James. His research focuses on understanding how loss of the retinoblastoma 1 (RB1) tumor-suppressor gene changes the transcriptome and proteome of cancer cells. He came to Ohio State from Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School.
Jeffrey Patrick, PharmD, was named director of the OSUCCC – James Drug Development Institute (DDI). The DDI identifies promising anticancer agents discovered by OSUCCC – James researchers and propels those agents through pharmaceutical development. The goal is to partner with industry to deliver new therapies to patients. Patrick came to Ohio State from New Haven Pharmaceuticals in Connecticut, where he served as chief scientific officer.
Hiral Shah, MD, is an assistant professor in the College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, where she specializes in treating patients with melanoma and other cutaneous malignancies. Her research focuses on early-phase clinical trials using immunotherapy for treatment of cutaneous malignancies. She also works to identify predictive biomarkers in melanoma patients who develop brain metastasis.
Jeffrey VanDeusen, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist with a focus on breast malignancies, is an assistant professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology. He also serves as associate director for community network relations at the OSUCCC – James. Before coming to Ohio State, he was medical director of the Adena Cancer Center in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Claire Verschraegen, MD, was appointed professor and director of the Division of Medical Oncology in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, and as associate director for translational research at the OSUCCC – James. She also holds the Diane Nye and Michael Rayden Chair in Innovative Cancer Research. As division director, Verschraegen oversees more than 50 faculty members who provide subspecialized care and/or conduct research for many forms of cancer. She came to Ohio State from the University of Vermont.