Adam Bass, MD
Adam Bass, MD, a physician-scientist in the field of cancer genomics and gastrointestinal cancer, will join the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian as the founding Director of the Center for Precision Cancer Medicine and Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology. Dr. Bass also will serve on the faculty of the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons as Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. His appointment is effective January 1, 2021.
Dr. Bass will build on the existing momentum of precision medicine across Columbia University and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, bringing together Columbia’s unique strengths in cancer research and care across multiple disciplines and alongside clinical partners at NewYork-Presbyterian.
Accumulating and Interpreting Data
Dr. Bass will lead an actively growing program of physician-scientists working at the interface of cancer biology and the development of new cancer diagnostics and therapies. The new center will coalesce investigators across Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian in a 360-degree approach, not only bringing discoveries from the lab to patients’ bedsides, but also incorporating research in real time, allowing researchers to understand how cancer evolves and adapts in response to therapies. A key initiative within the center will be a program to sequence patients’ tumors during treatment, helping researchers to further refine their understanding of cancer’s defense mechanisms and to develop new drugs and drug combinations. Columbia’s Department of Systems Biology will collaborate to apply its pioneering algorithms, which process and interpret these complex data.
“The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian is a driving force in cancer research and care situated in a world-class academic center,” said Dr. Bass. “I am excited to help bring targeted cancer therapies and prevention tools to all patients, including minority and underserved populations, who are statistically less likely to benefit from these advances.”
