The OSUCCC – James attracts some of the brightest minds in cancer research, and Pelotonia dollars help them continue their studies when they arrive. Among those recruited in 2015-16 are these prominent senior researchers:
Daniel Jones, MD, PhD, professor, vice chair and director of molecular pathology in the Department of Pathology, and director of molecular pathology for the OSUCCC – James. Jones came to Ohio State from Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute, where his group developed more than 100 oncology, genomics and pathology assays.
Sharyn Baker, PharmD, PhD, professor and chair of the Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the College of Pharmacy, and holder of the Gertrude Parker Heer Chair in Cancer Research. Baker came to Ohio State from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her research interests include anticancer drug development.
Rajgopal Govindarajan, DVM, PhD, associate professor in the College of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. He was recruited from the University of Georgia. His goal is to understand factors that make tumors more or less sensitive to chemotherapy, and microRNA drugs.
Anil Parwani, MD, PhD, MBA, professor, vice chair and director of anatomic pathology in the Department of Pathology. In the OSUCCC – James, he directs the digital pathology service, enabling expansion of precision cancer medicine. His research focuses on molecular markers in bladder, prostate and kidney cancers. Parwani came to Ohio State from the University of Pittsburgh.
Alex Sparreboom, PhD, professor in the College of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Sparreboom, who came to Ohio State from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, studies factors contributing to chemotherapy side effects and how to reduce them.
Cheryl Taylore Lee, MD, professor and chair of the College of Medicine’s Department of Urology. Lee, an expert in outcomes research and comparative studies, was recruited from the University of Michigan to lead Ohio State’s urology, uro/gynecology and uro/oncologic programs.
Timothy Pawlik, MD, MPH, PhD, professor and chair of the College of Medicine’s Department of Surgery. Pawlik, a liver cancer expert, came to Ohio State from Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology, program director of the Surgical Oncology Fellowship and director of the Johns Hopkins Liver Tumor Center.
Karen Patricia Williams, PhD, Nursing Distinguished Professor of Women’s Health and director of the Center for Women, Children and Youth at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Williams came from Michigan State University. Her research interest is cancer prevention and control and prevention interventions for disenfranchised women of color.
Dean Lee, MD, PhD, recruited from MD Anderson Cancer Center to Ohio State’s Department of Pediatrics and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where he leads cellular therapy efforts. He specializes in care for children undergoing stem cell transplantation. His research focuses on clinical trials of adoptive immune therapy with natural killer cells.