COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dr. Michael A. Caligiuri (43220), who leads the The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James), is one of five distinguished scientists elected by members of the American Association for Cancer Research to serve on the AACR Board of Directors for the 2013 to 2016 term.

The new board members will be introduced on Tuesday (4/9) at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, D.C., April 6-10. Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries.

The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 17,000 attendees.

Caligiuri is also vice president for health sciences, cancer programs and holds the John L. Marakas Nationwide Insurance Enterprise Foundation chair in cancer research at Ohio State. He is a professor in the departments of molecular virology, immunology, medical genetics and internal medicine at Ohio State and was chairperson for the AACR Annual Meeting Program Committee in 2009.

Caligiuri is currently chairperson of the AACR Publications Committee and a member of the Council of Scientific Advisors, the Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee, the Clinical and Translational Cancer Research Committee and the steering committee for the Cancer Immunology Working Group. He is a member of the editorial boards of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics and Clinical Cancer Research.

Caligiuri received both graduate and medical degrees at Stanford University School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine, oncology, bone marrow transplantation and immunology at Harvard before joining the Harvard Medical School faculty. In 1997, Caligiuri left his position as a tenured professor at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., to join Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only seven centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials. The NCI recently rated Ohio State’s cancer program as “exceptional,” the highest rating given by NCI survey teams. As the cancer program’s 228-bed adult patient-care component, The James is a “Top Hospital” as named by the Leapfrog Group and one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

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Click here for a high-resolution photo of Dr. Michael A. Caligiuri.

Contact: Eileen Scahill, Wexner Medical Center Public Affairs and Media Relations, 614-293-3737, or Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu