The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has welcomed five new clinician-scientists specializing in leukemia. These practitioners joined the HICCC faculty in early January 2013.
The new staff members are Mark G. Frattini, MD, PhD; Mark L. Heaney, MD, PhD; Joseph G. Jurcic, MD; Nicole Lamanna, MD; and Todd Rosenblat, MD. They will all see patients in the Irving Pavilion of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Lamanna will also see patients at ColumbiaDoctors Midtown, the new Columbia outpatient facility.
“I am pleased to welcome these wonderful physicians—who combined have more than 60 years of experience treating leukemia—as members of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center,” said Stephen Emerson, MD, PhD, Director of the HICCC. “We are looking forward to supporting their clinical and translational research, and patients will benefit greatly from their expertise in leukemia and related diseases.”
Their recruitment is one of a number of strategic initiatives made possible by a $40 million donation to the HICCC from Herbert and Florence Irving, which was announced in June 2012.
Comprehensive Coverage
“This spectacular team provides comprehensive coverage across the whole spectrum of acute and chronic leukemias,” said Donald W. Landry, MD, PhD, the Samuel Bard Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Chief of Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. “They were drawn to each other in the past by a shared commitment to excellence—and this same commitment now draws them to a resurgent heme malignancy program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, with Dr. Owen O’Connor directing the Center for Lymphoid Malignancies, Dr. Marcus Mapara directing the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit, Dr. Azra Raza directing the Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Center, Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch directing the Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service, and Dr. Megan Sykes, Director of the Columbia Center for Translational Immunology, heading research for the BMT unit.”
Dr. Mark Frattini will join the faculty as Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of Research for the Hematologic Malignancies Section. Dr. Frattini is a medical oncologist who specializes in the treatment of adult patients with acute and chronic leukemias, myeloproliferative disorders, and myelodysplastic syndrome. Dr. Frattini’s research focuses on new drug development for acute and chronic leukemias, with a special interest in small-molecule inhibitors of cell cycle-regulated kinases. He received his MD and PhD from The University of Chicago and his fellowship training in medical oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Mark Heaney will join the faculty as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine. Dr. Heaney is a hematologist/oncologist with a particular interest in myeloproliferative neoplasms, including myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. He also has expertise in several rare hematologic malignancies, including hairy cell leukemia, large granular lymphocyte leukemia, hypereosinophilic syndromes, mastocytosis, and histiocytic diseases. His laboratory research focuses on metabolic differences between normal and leukemic cells. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Virginia and completed his fellowship in medical oncology/hematology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Joseph Jurcic will join the faculty as Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Section of the Hematology/Oncology Division. Dr. Jurcic is a hematologist/oncologist focusing on the treatment of acute and chronic leukemias, myeloproliferative neoplasms, and myelodysplastic syndrome. His research interests include acute myeloid leukemia, radioimmunotherapy with alpha and beta particle-emitting radioisotopes, monoclonal antibody therapy for leukemia, development of novel small-molecule inhibitors for leukemia, and molecular monitoring of minimal residual disease. He received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his fellowship in medical oncology/hematology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Nicole Lamanna will join the faculty as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine. Dr. Lamanna is a medical oncologist who specializes in the treatment of adult patients with acute and chronic leukemias, with a focus on lymphoid leukemia and expertise in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Her clinical research interests include the development of combination therapies that include chemoimmunotherapy, immunomodulatory drugs, novel kinase inhibitors, and monoclonal antibodies. She also is working to find active, safer therapies for older patients. She received her MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her fellowship in medical oncology/hematology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Todd Rosenblat will join the faculty as Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine. Dr. Rosenblat is a hematologist/oncologist whose research focuses on developing new and more effective treatments for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. This includes the development of novel drugs and drug combinations, as well as immunotherapy for myeloid leukemias. He received his MD from Stony Brook University and completed his fellowship in medical oncology/hematology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. ■
