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Columbia, NewYork-Presbyterian appoint new cancer center director
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Anil K. Rustgi, MD, has been named director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Rustgi — who for 2 decades served as T. Grier Miller professor of medicine and genetics and chief of gastroenterology at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine — also will serve as professor of medicine and associate dean of oncology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
“Building upon many collaborations and friendships at the University of Pennsylvania for the last 20-plus years, I look forward to joining Columbia University, its medical school and the cancer center of Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian to advance the shared missions of providing innovative and quality patient care, engaging in research, and forging pathways for students, residents, fellows, faculty and staff alike,” Rustgi said in a press release.
Rustgi also previously co-led the tumor biology program at Perelman School of Medicine and has received the American Cancer Society Research Professorship.
“At this extraordinary moment in the evolution of cancer treatment, when Columbia’s world-class research scientists and clinicians are collaborating on a range of initiatives holding the promise of historic advances in fighting and curing this disease, Dr. Rustgi’s experience makes him ideally suited to lead the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center,” University President Lee C. Bollinger said in a press release.
Rustgi’s research focuses on how the development, progression and metastasis of gastrointestinal cancers are influenced by intrinsic cellular processes and the tumor microenvironment. He uses preclinical and 3-D culture models to identify cancer-causing and tumor-suppressor genes involved in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal cancers.
“After a national search that yielded a number of outstanding candidates, Dr. Rustgi stood out not only for his contributions as an academic oncologist, but also for his energy and his reputation as a consensus builder who is able to work across disciplines and organizational boundaries,” Lee Goldman, MD, dean of the faculties of health sciences and medicine at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and chief executive of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, said in the press release.