Scientific Advisory Board
Lloyd J. Old, M.D. (Chair)
Dr. Lloyd J. Old is internationally recognized as one of the founders and standard-bearers of the field of cancer research. Dr. Old has contributed many of the seminal findings in this field. He trained as an M.D. (University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco), and following postdoctoral work at Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, he held an academic position at the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. As Director of the International Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research for 17 years, Scientific Director of the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) for 30 years, and Associate Director of Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for 10 years, Dr. Old has guided the scientific vision of several institutions. Dr. Old is a member of multiple scientific and medical societies, including the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Robert Koch Prize, the New York Academy of Medicine Medal, the President's Medal of Johns Hopkins University, the Harvey Lecture, the G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Lecture, and Honorary Degrees from the Karolinska Institute, University of Lausanne, and University College London.
Steven A. Curley, MD
Biography in preparation
George Demetri, M.D.
Dr. Demetri's research and clinical interests have focused on the development of targeted therapies for sarcomas and other solid tumors. The contributions of Dr. Demetri and his colleagues at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center have led to the development of cancer treatments such as Gleevec and Sutent. Dr. Demetri received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. After completing Internal Medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Washington Hospitals in Seattle, Washington, he pursued a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, where he has served as an attending physician since 1989. Dr. Demetri serves as co-chair of the Medical Advisory Board for the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC) and Executive Director for Clinical and Translational Research in the Ludwig Center for Cancer Research, the largest philanthropic organization supporting cancer research.
Robert C. Jackson, Ph.D.
Bob Jackson trained as a pharmacologist (Ph.D. from Institute of Cancer Research, London and Surrey), and following postdoctoral work at Yale University and Scripps Clinic, he held academic positions at the Institute of Cancer Research and Indiana University. Industry positions included Director of Chemotherapy at Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis and Group Director, Cancer Research, at Du Pont. He held the position of Head of R&D at four biotech companies (Agouron, Chiroscience, Celltech-Chiroscience, Cyclacel). In total he managed the development of 25 drugs into clinical trials, five of which are currently marketed. He is sole author of two books, and author or co-author of over 170 other publications. He has been member and chair of several study sections and other advisory committees for NCI, NIH, the UK government and the European Union. He is currently the chairman of the Discovery Committee of Cancer UK.
Hsing-Jien Kung, Ph.D.
Dr. Kung conducts basic cancer research on cell signaling, with particular focus on the relationship between differential expression and activation of receptor-kinases and oncogenic transformation, and on the molecular genetics of oncogenic viruses. The research contributions of Dr. Kung and his colleagues have led to the discovery, identification, and characterization of multiple tyrosine kinases, to the characterization of several tumor causing viruses, and to expanded knowledge of the androgen-independent growth of prostate cancer cells. He has numerous active research grants and has published over 200 research articles. Dr. Kung received his undergraduate degree from National Taiwan University and his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. He then completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Kung is a Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, Davis, Director of UC Davis Cancer Basic Sciences, and Deputy Director of UC Davis Cancer Center. He has been a Fellow of the Academia Sinica, Taiwan since 1998, in which he is a current Council member and serves on both the Institute of Molecular Biology and Institute of Biological Chemistry Advisory Boards.
Jedd D. Wolchok, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Wolchok is Associate Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with expertise in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. He is also the co-director of the Swim Across America laboratory at MSKCC, one of the foremost immunotherapy and melanoma research groups in the country. His specific area research interest is the preclinical and early clinical development of novel immunologic therapies. Most recently, Dr. Wolchok has initiated several clinical trials using plasmid DNA vaccines for patients with melanoma. He has been involved in the development of the DNA vaccine program at every level— from initial studies in mouse models, through all levels of regulatory review and now as Principal Investigator of the clinical trials. Dr. Wolchok has authored numerous articles concerning DNA vaccines, cytokine biology and clinical care of melanoma and co-authored two chapters in the definitive textbook, Cutaneous Melanoma. Dr. Wolchok is also co-editor of the journal Cytotherapy. Most recently, Dr. Wolchok was appointed to be Associate Director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at MSKCC as well as Director of Immunotherapy Clinical Trials.