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N E W P H YS I C I A N S
to even include experimental approaches such as T-cell therapy
in breast cancer and reduced intensity transplantation in
autoimmune diseases such as lupus and scleroderma.”
Shin Mineishi, MD, professor and director of the Bone Marrow Transplant-Cell Therapy Program,
joins UAB from the University of Michigan, where he was associate professor and clinical director
of the Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. Mineishi received his MD from the University
of Tokyo and completed fellowships in medical oncology and pharmacology at MD Anderson
Cancer Center and in medical oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He was on
the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, chief of the Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Service at
Japan’s National Cancer Center Hospital, and on the Vanderbilt University faculty before joining
Michigan. There he rose to prominence in BMT, especially for work on conditioning regimens for
aggressive AML, graft-versus-host disease, complications after stem cell transplantation, reduced
intensity stem cell transplantation, and HLA-mismatch stem cell transplantation.
Harry Erba, MD, PhD, professor and director of hematologic malignancies, earned his MD and
PhD from Stanford University and completed a hematology-oncology fellowship at the Brigham
and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He was on the Harvard faculty before joining
the University of Michigan, where he became a leader in his field, especially in the assessment
of novel therapies for acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, and myelodysplastic
syndromes. He is chair of the SWOG Leukemia Committee.
Pran Datta, MS, PhD, professor and director of research, earned his MS in organic chemistry
from the University of Burdwan, India, and his PhD in organic chemistry from Bose Institute,
Calcutta, India, where he was a research fellow and a scientist. He completed a research
fellowship and joined the faculty at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville. He leads UAB
Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Colon and Lung Cancer Basic Research Program.
Hematologic Malignancy. Harry Erba, MD, PhD, who
became chairman of the SWOG Leukemia Committee in October
2012, was recruited from the University of Michigan to lead
this program. It will focus on the clinical development of new
therapies for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and
related disorders. Three other new specialists (Naresh Bellam,
MD, Uma Borate, MD, and Kelly Godby, MD) recently joined
UAB to complete his team.
“We believe that UAB now is poised to become the leading
leukemia program in the South, and with the addition of Rita
Paschal, MD, from Vanderbilt University, who will oversee
benign hematology (sickle cell disease, coagulation disorders,
anemia and related disorders), UAB will have broad coverage of
both benign and malignant hematologic disorders.”
Urologic Oncology. “With the recruitment of Guru Sonpavde,
MD, from Baylor University, we have a leader in the field of
genitourinary malignancies. Together with the recruitment of
Dean Assimos, MD, as chair of the Department of Urology, UAB
will provide leading-edge research protocols for prostate, bladder,
kidney, and germ cell cancer.”
Thoracic Oncology. Stefan Grant, MD, formerly of Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, leads this program, working in
concert with translational scientists and thoracic surgeons to
Guru Sonpavde, MD, associate professor and director of urologic oncology, is a graduate of
Christian Medical College, University of Madras, India, and completed a hematology-oncology
fellowship at Indiana University Medical Center. He practiced in Houston, Texas, both at a
community-based practice a nd at the Baylor College of Medicine. He is a leader in the field of
genitourinary malignancies.
Ayman Saad, MD, associate professor and a scientist in the Cancer Center’s Experimental
Therapeutics Program, earned his medical degree and a master’s degree in clinical oncology
from AIn Shams University, Egypt. He completed a hematology-fellowship from West Virginia
develop innovative treatments for lung cancer.
Integrative and Complementary Medicine. Carolina
Salvador, MD, formerly of the University of Louisville, is
developing a program to offer integrative, complementary, and
alternative medicine approaches to patients with cancer.
Basic Science Research. Pran Datta, PhD, was recruited from
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine to direct the research
program for the hematology-oncology division. A leading
University and was on the faculty of the Medical College of Wisconsin. His clinical interests
include the use of graft manipulation of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a model for
investigator in the field of lung and colon cancer, he studies the
immunotherapy to improve treatment outcomes for hematological malignancies.
and promotion and how these pathways can be targeted for
role of TGF-ß/Smad7/STRAP signaling in tumor suppression
therapeutic intervention.
Carolina Salvador, MD, assistant professor, is a graduate of the University of Texas Health
Science Center, San Antonio, and completed fellowships in geriatrics at Texas and in oncology-
Suburban Oncology Clinics. UAB Health System has opened
a new UAB Medicine Hematology/Oncology Clinic at Medical
hematology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, where she joined the faculty. Her
interests include breast cancer, adolescent and young adult oncology, and cancer prevention and
West, an affiliated hospital in Bessemer. Guru Sonpavde, MD,
minority cancer disparities. She is developing a program in integrative oncology to improve the
quality of life for cancer patients in all phases of their care.
the Acton Road Hematology/Oncology Clinic, located in a
serves as medical director. Stefan Grant, MD, now directs
neighborhood setting south of town. “Placing oncologists of
the stature of Guru and Stefan at our community clinics assures
patients that they receive the same high level of care as they
would at The Kirklin Clinic at UAB, and in a more convenient
setting for many.”
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