Sagar Lonial, MD, an expert in the biology and treatment of multiple myeloma, was recently named as the Anne and Bernard Gray Family Chair in Cancer at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta.
Dr. Sagar Lonial
The endowment was created in honor of Mrs. Gray’s sister, Karen Ammons Howell, who died of breast cancer. Dr. Lonial, who joined Emory more than 20 years ago, is also the chief medical officer for Winship Cancer Institute and the chairman of the department of hematology and medical oncology. He is currently leading a global genome sequencing study for patients with newly diagnosed myeloma.
The Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, is taking a step toward precision medicine. They recently created the position of artificial intelligence officer. J. Ross Mitchell, PhD, is taking on the new role and is tasked with using computer science – and, specifically, artificial intelligence applications – to improve efficiency and quality of care at the center. Dr. Mitchell previously worked at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., leading medical imaging information projects, including the application of machine learning in brain tumor imaging.
Oren Cahlon, MD, a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, has been tapped as associate deputy physician in chief for the institution’s Regional Care Network. This puts Dr. Cahlon, an expert in proton therapy, in a new role overseeing outpatient clinical programs across seven locations in New York and New Jersey. Dr. Cahlon will continue in his position as vice chair of the department of radiation oncology, in which he has served since 2016.
John Barrett, MD, is the new editor in chief of the British Journal of Haematology. He begins his term in January 2019. Dr. Barrett, who is a clinical professor of medicine at George Washington University Cancer Center in Washington takes over from Finbarr E. Cotter, MBBS, PhD, who had served in the role since 2006.
The cancer community is mourning the passage of Bertrand Coiffier, MD, PhD, who died in January 2019 at the age of 71. The well-known lymphoma researcher led the team that first described the use of the R-CHOP chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in 2002. Dr. Coiffier also was a founding member of the Groupe d’Etude des Lymphomes de l’Adulte (GELA), which began in Europe in 1984 to advance basic and clinical research on lymphoma in adults, and later became LYSA (Lymphoma Study Association).