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MD Anderson names division head
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Patrick Hwu, MD, chair of melanoma medical oncology and sarcoma medical oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has been named division head of cancer medicine.
Hwu will succeed Richard Champlin, MD, who served as division head on an interim basis and will continue to serve as chair of stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy.
“Dr. Hwu is an internationally respected physician-scientist who has 25 years of experience in the fields of tumor immunology, targeted therapies and translational studies,” Ethan Dmitrovsky, MD, provost and executive vice president of MD Anderson, said in a press release. “He’s a seasoned leader and has successfully chaired two departments and served as co-director of MD Anderson’s Center for Cancer Immunology Research and its immunotherapy platform.”
Hwu, an expert in tumor immunology, has translated multiple concepts from the laboratory to the clinic and helped to launch the field of gene modified T cells, publishing research on the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) directed against cancer. Clinical trials using CAR-transduced T cells now are being studied in many types of cancers, and MD Anderson has established an adoptive T cell therapy program, treating more than 80 melanoma patients with T cells to date.
“Dr. Hwu is an accomplished clinician, researcher and administrator who is well positioned to take the Division of Cancer Medicine — already recognized as a global leader — to the next level,” Raymond S. Greenberg, MD, PhD, executive vice chancellor for health affairs for The University of Texas System, said in a press release.