The newcomers who are members of the comprehensive cancer center represent 11 of the 15 colleges at the university. Here are some of the senior recruits of the past year:
Zihai Li, MD, PhD, an oncologist and immunologist, was recruited from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to become founding director of the new Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology (PIIO) at the OSUCCC – James, where he also is in the Translational Therapeutics Program. At MUSC, Li was a tenured professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the Hollings Cancer Center. With primary interests in the mechanisms of immune regulation in cancer, Li’s research team has made seminal contributions to understanding the immunological properties of heat shock proteins in cancer immunotherapy and immune tolerance. His current interests focus on developing better immunotherapeutics against cancer by reprogramming the tumor microenvironment.
Yiping Yang, MD, PhD, an expert in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, was appointed as director of the Division of Hematology at Ohio State. Yang was recruited from Duke University, where he had served as co-director of the Hematologic Malignancies and Cell Therapies Program at the Duke Cancer Institute and as professor of medicine/immunology at the School of Medicine. A clinician and scientist, he specializes in the treatment of lymphoma, leukemia and virus-associated malignancies. In addition to his division leader role, Yang is in the Leukemia Research Program at the OSUCCC – James and is a collaborator in the new PIIO.
Theodore Wagener, PhD, was recruited from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center to Ohio State’s College of Medicine, where he is an associate professor in the Division of Medical Oncology. He also co-leads the Cancer Control Program and directs the Center for Tobacco Research at the OSUCCC – James. Wagener’s research focuses on tobacco regulatory science, with a specialized focus on evaluating the pharmacological effects and behavioral use patterns of cigarette and non-cigarette tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) and hookah. He also has expertise in developing and testing motivational enhancement-based smoking cessation and secondhand smoke reduction interventions for children of parents who smoke.
Eugene Oltz, PhD, joined Ohio State’s College of Medicine as professor and chair of the Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity. He also is in the Cancer Biology Program at the OSUCCC – James. Oltz was recruited from Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as professor and vice chair of the Department of Pathology and Immunology. A researcher and lecturer, Oltz focuses on genetic changes that occur in normal immune cells that lead to autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease or immune-related tumors such as lymphoma. He has led NIH-funded programs for more than two decades and has held more than 20 federal grants as principal investigator.
Blake Peterson, PhD, was recruited from the University of Kansas as professor and chair of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy in Ohio State’s College of Pharmacy. He also co-leads the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James. Peterson’s laboratory pursues interdisciplinary research in bio-organic/medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. His team creates and studies anticancer agents, antiviral agents, molecular probe, tools for target identification and systems for drug delivery.
Dongjun Chung, PhD, was recruited to Ohio State from the Medical University of South Carolina as an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (BMI) within the College of Medicine. Chung was jointly recruited by BMI and the PIIO at the OSUCCC – James. His research expertise includes statistical genetics, bioinformatics, machine learning and statistical computing. His research group has published several articles in scientific journals and has developed multiple statistical methods, software and Web interface in the areas of high-throughput sequencing, genome-wide association studies, cancer genomics and systems biology.