Medical Advisory Board
Richard T. Silver, M.D., FACP
Dr. Silver, a Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the Director at Weill Cornell of the Center for the Study of Leukemia and Myeloproliferative Diseases, has long been in the forefront of clinical cancer research. In 1958, only five years out of medical school, he was one of the authors of a groundbreaking paper reporting the first significant success in achieving remissions in acute leukemia. Hundreds of research articles and thousands of patients later, he was a principal investigator in the world trials of the highly effective new anti-leukemia pill Gleevec. Currently he oversees an international trial of the new drug against polycythemia vera, a life-threatening disease characterized by overproduction of red blood cells.
Being first, in fact, has been a continuing theme in Dr. Silver's career. He was one of the first to use the anti-viral agent interferon in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and the first to report its effectiveness against polycythemia vera. He pioneered in developing courses to train physicians in the biopsy of bone marrow and interpretation of the results. His research has contributed significantly to current understandings of how infections develop in leukemia.
Starting in 2001 Dr. Silver has chaired the bi-annual International Congress on Myeloproliferative Diseases and Myelodysplastic Syndromes, a three-day meeting that draws top scientists from across the world. He also hosts the concurrent Patient Symposium attracting over 200 patients from across the country.
In addition to his pioneering work in clinical hematology, Dr. Silver has contributed to progress in treating solid tumors through innovations in chemotherapies for breast and ovarian cancer. In that sense his career reflects the special role that blood-cancer research has played in the development of treatments for all cancers.
Dr. Silver's many awards include the Catharine Margaret Pastmantier Award from the New York Cancer Society and Timothy Gee Award from the Sass Foundation for Cancer Research. In 2000, CR&T and Weill Cornell established the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor-ship of Hematology and Medical Oncology. The first occupant of this endowed position, Dr. Scott Wadler, heads the Solid Tumor Service at Weill Cornell.
Anne Moore, M.D.
Dr. Moore, a Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell, is Chairman of the Breast Committee at New York-Presbyterian Hospital as well as a past-president of the New York Metropolitan Breast Cancer Group and a past-director of the American Board of Internal Medicine. She is a recipient of the Wholeness of Life Award from the Hospital Chaplaincy of New York and has been honored by Artists for Breast Cancer Survival and by Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert. Dr. Moore is the co-author of ìPatient's Guide to Breast Cancer Treatment, a 77-page monograph that in plain language spells out the basics of the disease from diagnosis to follow-up care.
Shahin Rafii, M.D.
Dr. Rafii, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell, is widely recognized as one of the country's most productive young physician-scientists. Formerly a fellow in the laboratory Dr. Malcolm Moore, with whom he continues to collaborate, he has been instrumental in un-covering important links between hematopoesis (the process of blood-cell formation) and angiogenesis (the process of blood-vessel formation). Appearing in such leading journals as Nature Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Cell, this research has had considerable influence on the development of new therapies against both blood cancers and solid tumors.
Malcolm Moore, D. Phil
Dr. Moore, the incumbent of the Enid A. Haupt Chair of Cell Biology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a Professor of Biology at Weill Cornell, is one of the world ís leading investigators into how blood cells develop and how this development goes awry in cancer. Dr. Moore played a key role in the invention of NeupogenÆ, a drug widely used today in cancer treatment to stimulate the production of infection-fighting white blood cells. With co-workers, he has elucidated many aspects of blood formation ñ such as what factors determine whether a stem cell replicates itself or, alternatively, gives birth to daughter cells that differentiate as red cells, white cells, or platelets.
Linda T. Vahdat, M.D.
Dr. Vahdat is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell, the Medical Director of the Weill Cornell Breast Cancer Center, and an Associate Attending Physician of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She has done extensive research on the efficacy of high-dose chemo-therapy in breast cancer and on measures to allay its side effects. Active in education for cancer patients, Dr. Vahdat has received two outstanding-service awards from Cancer Care, Inc., as well as that organization ís 2002 award for physician of the year.
Morton Coleman, M.D. F.A.C.P.
Dr. Coleman is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell and Director of its Center for Lymphoma and Myeloma. A frequent collaborator with Dr. Silver, with whom he has co-authored more than 70 research articles, Dr. Coleman is known worldwide for his contributions to the treatment of lymphoma, myeloma, and leukemia ñ such as innovations in dose intensity, in treatment combinations, and in sequencing, timing, and duration of chemotherapy. Today with colleagues at the Center for Lymphoma and Myeloma he is pioneering anti-lymphoma therapies based on novel combinations of monoclonal antibodies, one of the molecule-targeting tools that are revolutionizing the treatment of cancer.
Mark Pasmantier, M.D.
A Clinical Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell, Dr. Pasmantier has collaborated with Drs. Silver and Coleman on numerous journal articles dealing with Hodgkin's disease, myeloma, lymphoma, ovarian carcinoma, and other cancers. More recently he has served as a clinical investigator in the Early Lung Cancer Action Project centered at Weill Cornell, the groundbreaking project designed to test the value of annual repeat screening by CT scans for lung cancer. The project found CT screening much superior to traditional X-rays in detecting lung cancers at an early stage when they are most likely to be curable. As a result, a statewide screening project is now in progress involving up to 10,000 smokers.
John P. Leonard, M.D.
John P. Leonard, M.D., is the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology and professor of medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He also serves as clinical director of the New York - Cornell Center for Lymphoma and Myeloma, attending physician at the New York - Weill Cornell Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital, and is Director of Clinical Research, Division of Hematology/Oncology. An expert in hematology and oncology, Dr. Leonard's research has been published in numerous medical journals, and he has served as a member of the editorial boards of Blood and the Journal of Clinical Oncology, leading international journals in these fields. He is the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma working group leader for the Lymphoma Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), a multicenter cooperative group of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Leonard's primary research interest is in the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of lymphoma and related hematologic malignancies, and he has lectured at major international meetings on these topics.
Edward P. Ambinder
MD Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Associate Chairman & Program Director, Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium, Member, Board of Directors, ASCO, President, New York State Society of Medical Oncologists and Hematologists, Past President, New York Cancer Society, New York, NY.
Having begun his renowned career nearly 40 years ago as an intern at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, Dr. Ambinder currently serves as the hospital's Clinical Professor of Medicine and Clinical Professor of Clinical Oncological Services. In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Ambinder has chaired, co-chaired and been a member of various medical professional societies. In addition, he has served on various Boards of Directors and published numerous medical articles, books, software applications and journals.
His reputation as a nationally recognized thought leader in Oncology, as well as his many years experience in developing physician-driven software focused on improving care for cancer patients, should be instrumental in the evolution of new Quality of Life Care software.
David A. Scheinberg
M.D., Ph.D. is the Chairman for the Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program, specializing on developing targeted immunotherapies at Memorial Sloan Kettering where he has bee associated since 1986. He is the Vincent Astor Chair and Member, Leukemia Service; Chairman, Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program; Chairman, Experimental Therapeutics Center; Member, Clinical Immunology Service; and Head, Laboratory of Hematopoietic Cancer Immunochemistry. He also holds the position of Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Weill-Cornell Medical College.
