Association of American Cancer Institutes Elects Caligiuri

Abstract

Dr. Michael A. Caligiuri, (43220), director of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected to serve a two-year term as the vice president and president-elect of the Association of American Cancer Institutes.

Following his term as vice president and president-elect, in October 2009, Caligiuri will begin serving an additional two-year term as the AACI's president.

Representing 89 of the premier academic and free-standing cancer research centers nationwide, the AACI is dedicated to aiding its members' shared mission to eradicate cancer. The organization's efforts support 16,000 scientific and clinical investigators at cancer centers nationwide who work collaboratively to translate promising research findings into approaches to prevent and treat cancer.

For nearly 50 years, the association has provided a unified voice for cancer center directors to educate policy leaders and the public about the importance of cancer centers and their role in reducing the burden of cancer in their communities. AACI also spearheads initiatives to fund cancer centers in developing innovative research methodologies that have direct clinical applications.

"I am honored that my peers have asked me to serve as one of the principle ambassadors for the cancer research community," says Caligiuri, who is a prominent figure in the fields of immunology, leukemia and lymphoma. "At Ohio State, I have worked with researchers, patients, advocates and government officials to bring cancer research to the forefront of discussion. As the president of AACI, I will continue to address these issues on a national stage."

The nexus of cancer research in the United States is the network of cancer centers represented by AACI that are highly integrated, multidisciplinary hubs of scientific research excellence and exceptional patient care. In addition to conducting basic, clinical and population research, the cancer centers are largely responsible for training the cancer workforce.

Caligiuri's election to AACI's highest leadership position can be attributed in part to Ohio State's rise to national prominence in cancer research and care. Heading Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center since July 2003, Caligiuri has been instrumental in recruiting more than 170 clinicians and researchers and quadrupling cancer research funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institutes of Health.

Ohio State is one of two cancer centers that have successfully competed for NCI Phase I and Phase II contracts for drug development. Ohio State also heads one of the AACI-NCI partnership initiatives on Cancer Imaging. The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, which is the clinical arm for the university's Comprehensive Cancer Center, was recently named the top cancer treatment center in Ohio by U.S. News & World Report.

Caligiuri received both graduate and medical degrees at Stanford University School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine, oncology, bone marrow transplantation and immunology at Harvard before joining the Harvard Medical School faculty.

In 1997, Caligiuri left his position as a tenured professor at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., to join Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center as associate director for clinical research. He holds the John L. Marakas Nationwide Insurance Enterprise Foundation Chair in Cancer Research and served as the director of the division of hematology/oncology at Ohio State from 2000-2007. Caligiuri is also a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and a Cancer Genetics Scholar in the department of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics.

Caligiuri, who has more than $30 million in research funding for his laboratory, focuses on the molecular biology of leukemia, vaccine development to prevent lymphoma and natural killer cell biology. He has authored more than 200 original scientific publications and is on numerous national committees, including the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors for Clinical Sciences. He is also an associate editor of the journal Blood and sits on the editorial boards of Clinical Cancer Research, Blood Reviews and Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

"Dr. Caligiuri is an exceptional cancer researcher," says AACI executive director Barbara Duffy Stewart. "His contributions to AACI as a member of its board of directors have been of immeasurable value."

Caligiuri will succeed Dr. Edward Benz of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as vice president of AACI.