Scientific Advisors
Michael Choti, M.D. M.B.A.
, Jacob C. Handelsman Professor of Surgery, Chief of the Handelsman Division of Surgical Oncology and Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Dr. Michael Choti received his medical school degree at Yale University, general surgery training at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed the surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before joining the division of Surgical Oncology at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Choti is the principal or co-investigator for a variety of clinical and preclinical studies examining new approaches for the treatment of liver, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer. He also serves as Director of the Johns Hopkins Colorectal Center. Dr. Choti serves on various leadership positions in national and international societies and has chaired study sections for the American Cancer Society. He currently serves on the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer and is on the Colorectal Cancer and Neuroendocrine Tumor Panels for the National Cancer Coalition Network. He has a strong interest in molecular genetics and biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancer, as well as clinical research, conducting clinical trials and outcomes research in the hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal malignancies.
Harvey I. Pass, M.D.
, a surgeon scientist recognized as an international expert in lung cancer and mesothelioma, is the Stephen E. Banner Professor of Thoracic Oncology and Cardiothoracic Surgery Vice Chair for Research, NYU Langone Medical Center. His research has been continuously funded since 1998 for discovery and validation of biomarkers.
Dr. Pass has over 380 peer-reviewed publications, and published 10 books including Lung Cancer: Principles and Practice, Malignant Mesothelioma: Advances in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Translational Therapies, and 100 Questions and Answers about Mesothelioma. He is Editor of Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and is on the Editorial Board of Clinical Lung Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, Current Treatment Options in Oncology, and Cancer Biomarkers. Dr. Pass has been the recipient of the NIH Directors Award, the Wagner Medallion for contributions to mesothelioma, the Pioneer Award from the Mesothelioma Foundation, and the Landon Award for Team Science from the American Association for Cancer Research.
Eric K. Rowinsky, M.D.
has more than 25 years of experience managing clinical trials and developing drugs from preclinical to regulatory approval. Among his many endeavors before joining Stemline was that of Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Imclone Systems, Inc., where he led the FDA approval of Erbitux® for head and neck and colorectal cancers, and advanced eight other monoclonal antibodies through clinical development. Before joining Imclone, Dr. Rowinsky was the Director of the Institute of Drug Development ("IDD") at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center. Dr. Rowinsky was an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was also a longstanding NCI principal investigator on U01 anticancer drug development grants and was integrally involved in pivotal clinical and preclinical investigations which led to the development of paclitaxel, docetaxel, topotecan, irinotecan, erlotinib, gefitinib, and temsirolimus, among others.
Dr. Rowinsky is currently an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine and sits on the Board of Directors of a number of public and private biopharmaceutical companies, including Biogen Idec, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB). Dr. Rowinsky received his M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Diego and completed his fellowship in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. He holds a B.A. from New York University.
David Sidransky M.D.
, Professor, Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Oncology, Pathology, Urology, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Director, Head and Neck Cancer Research
Dr. Sidransky is a renowned oncologist and research scientist named and profiled by TIME magazine in 2001 as one of the top physicians and scientists in America, recognized for his work with early detection of cancer. Since 1994, Dr. Sidransky has been the Director of the Head and Neck Cancer Research Division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Professor of Oncology, Otolaryngology, Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Urology, Genetics, and Pathology at John Hopkins University and Hospital.
Dr. Sidransky is one of the most highly cited researchers in clinical and medical journals in the world, in the field of oncology during the past decade, with over 300 peer-reviewed publications. He has contributed more than 40 cancer reviews and chapters. Dr. Sidransky served as Director (2005-2008) of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). He was the chairperson of AACR International Conferences (2006 and 2007) on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development: Maximizing Opportunities for Personalized Treatment. Dr. Sidransky is the recipient of a number of awards and honors, including the 1997 Sarstedt International Prize from the German Society of Clinical Chemistry, the 1998 Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health by the American College of Chest Physicians, and the 2004 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award from the American Association of Cancer Research.
James Mackay, MA MD FRCP FRCPE
trained at Trinity College, Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He is the only accredited Medical Oncologist in the UK with a special interest in Cancer Genetics.
Dr Mackay set up the first regular remote cancer genetics service in the world based at Great Ormond Street Hospital, with real time consultations with patients and their families in several peripheral London hospitals using high quality tele-conferencing technology. He has also taken the lead in setting up several major clinical trials.
Justin Stebbing, MA FRCP FRCPath PhD
, Professor of Cancer Medicine and Medical Oncology, trained in medicine at Trinity College Oxford, where he gained a triple first class degree. After completion of junior doctor posts in Oxford, he undertook junior doctor training and a residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US, returning to London to continue his career in oncology at The Royal Marsden and then St Bartholomew's Hospitals. Professor Stebbing’s PhD research investigated the interplay between the immune system and cancer.
Professor Stebbing has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as the Lancet, New England Journal, Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Internal Medicine, as well as writing regularly for national newspapers and presenting new data on optimal cancer therapies at the major international conferences.
He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the American Board of Internal Medicine and the Royal College of Pathologists, and sits on the advisory Boards of a number of international cancer committees. He chairs the World Vaccine Congress and is on the editorial board of a number of world leading general medical and cancer journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Oncogene. In 2011, work Justin's team published in Nature Medicine outlines the discovery of a new cancer-causing gene. In 2012 the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) awarded Justin Stebbing its first translational research professorship in oncology, aiming to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the patient to ensure therapy is personalized; understanding why some patients with cancer relapse, and developing a program to reverse this and prevent it.