Ohio State names new director of hematology division
Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, has been named the new director of the division of hematology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
Woyach, a hematologist-oncologist, is the D. Warren Brown designated chair in leukemia research in the division of hematology and department of internal medicine at Ohio State’s College of Medicine and serves as co-leader of the leukemia and hematologic malignancies research program. She succeeds Yiping Yang, MD, PhD, according to a press release.
“I am incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity to follow the legacy of leadership in hematology at Ohio State, and lead our exceptional team of faculty and staff,” Woyach said in the release. “Our program’s mission is to provide world-class care for our patients, and perform pioneering basic, translational and clinical research that will improve the lives of patients with blood diseases and hematologic malignancies.”
Woyach’s laboratory work has led to the approval of first-in-class Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, ibrutinib (Imbruvica; Janssen, Pharmacyclics), for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She has also been integral in research for second-generation acalabrutinib (Calquence, AstraZeneca), which works to prevent or minimize adverse events from treatment, according to the release.
Additional research efforts include the identification of common acquired mutations that cause CLL to resist certain treatments, such as ibrutinib and acalabrutinib, and Woyach later helped lead studies to identify treatments that can overcome ibrutinib resistance, resulting in clinical trials of reversible BTK inhibitors, including pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca, Eli Lilly & Co.).
“We are thrilled that Dr. Woyach will be leading and advancing the transformative and patient-centered work of our hematology division,” David Cohn, MD, MBA, FACHE, interim CEO and chief medical officer of The OSUCCC — James, said in the release.
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