HOUSTON ― The James P. Allison Institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced the establishment of its internal advisory council to provide scientific input and to align the work of the institute with the broader MD Anderson research enterprise.
The advisory council is led by Allison Institute Director of Science Operations and Management Raghu Kalluri, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Cancer Biology, and Karen Lu, M.D., chair of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine. The group, which includes 12 MD Anderson faculty members with broad expertise across disciplines, will hold its inaugural meeting today.
“Seamless integration with the entire community of MD Anderson researchers and physicians is critical to realizing our vision for the Allison Institute. Doing this successfully will enable us to accelerate breakthroughs from the lab into new medicines and combinations in a way that isn’t possible elsewhere,” Kalluri said. “Our internal advisory council will provide valuable scientific insight and work to ensure alignment of our efforts with appropriate teams across the institution. We are confident this talented group will help lead us to tremendous impacts in immunotherapy and beyond.”
Launched in March, the Allison Institute was created to drive exceptional discovery, translational and clinical research that will integrate immunobiology across disciplines and unlock the full potential of science and medicine for human health.
The institute is led by Director James P. Allison, Ph.D., regental chair of Immunology, together with Kalluri and Director of Scientific Programs Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology.
Members of the internal advisory council are:
- Christopher Flowers, M.D., ad interim division head of Cancer Medicine and chair of Lymphoma & Myeloma
- Kelly Hunt, M.D., chair of Breast Surgical Oncology
- David Jaffray, Ph.D., chief technology and digital officer
- Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology
- Guillermina (Gigi) Lozano, Ph.D., chair of Genetics
- Karen Lu, M.D., chair of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine
- Anirban Maitra, M.B.B.S., professor of Pathology and Translational Molecular Pathology
- Jeffrey Myers, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Head & Neck Surgery
- Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
- Linghua Wang, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Genomic Medicine
- Jennifer Wargo, M.D., professor of Surgical Oncology and Genomic Medicine
- Ignacio Wistuba, M.D., chair of Translational Molecular Pathology
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