BRONX, N.Y., June 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Albert
Einstein Cancer Center (AECC), Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, and Montefiore Health
System today announced that leading cancer biologist
Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D., has been
named founding director of the Cancer Dormancy and Tumor
Microenvironment Institute (CDTMI), director of the Gruss-Lipper
Biophotonics Center, and co-leader of the AECC Tumor
Microenvironment and Metastasis Program. He will also be an endowed
professor of cell biology at Einstein. He will assume his new roles
on October 1, 2021.
"We are honored to have a scientist of Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso's
exceptional caliber joining us," said Edward Chu, M.D., M.M.S., director of AECC and
vice-president of cancer medicine at Montefiore Medicine, which is
composed of Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "His
talents as a scientist make him the ideal candidate to lead this
first-of-its-kind research institute focused on cancer dormancy and
the tumor microenvironment. He is one of the true pioneers in the
field. His seminal research has identified the key
micro-environmental and signaling mechanisms involved in the
biology of dormant cancer cells, which then provides the rational
basis for developing novel therapeutic approaches."
Untangling the Biology of Metastatic Cancer
Cancer is
a disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably, destroying
body tissue. Cancer dormancy refers to a stage when cancer
cells stop dividing but survive, frozen in the cell cycle and
waiting for better micro-environmental conditions that may allow
the cells to resume replicating. Whether dormant cancer cells
remain viable after cancer therapy is crucially important: Clinical
tests may indicate a tumor has been successfully treated, but
residual dormant cancer cells may survive and go on to seed
metastatic tumors or systemic recurrence in hematological
malignancies.
The tumor microenvironment—the area immediately surrounding the
cancer cells—plays a critical role in influencing their fate. It
consists of common cell types in the body, including those that
form blood vessels, immune cells, bone cells, nerve cells, and
signaling molecules. The continuous interaction between tumors and
their microenvironments helps determine whether cancer cells that
have spread will remain dormant or instead become active and
grow.
The new institute will build upon the current strengths in tumor
microenvironment research at Einstein, while expanding its purview
to include cancer dormancy, which also closely aligns with the
biology of aging, stem cells, epigenetics, and systems biology
among other disciplines strongly represented at Einstein. The CDTMI
will also focus on developing novel technologies to better detect
dormant cancer and prevent and control recurrent disease. The goal
of the institute is to bring together the strengths of new recruits
and existing investigators to advance the field and develop novel
diagnostic tools and therapies.
"Dr. Chu is leading the effort to even greater heights in our
cancer center," said Gordon F.
Tomaselli, M.D. the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at
Einstein and chief academic officer at Montefiore Medicine. "The
recruitment of Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso, an international leader in cancer
biology, is a key part of this transformation."
Revealing Novel Cancer Processes
Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso and
colleagues helped lead a major shift in cancer biology by showing
that cancer is not perpetually proliferating, as had been thought.
They discovered that crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor
microenvironment regulates the cells' ability to switch between
dormancy and proliferation. His lab has also provided key insights
into the early spread of breast cancer and how that process
contributes to dormancy and to metastatic progression. His research
has also explored how adaptive pathways within cancer cells enable
the cells to survive while in a state of dormancy.
Those insights led Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso to develop novel strategies
for preventing cancer recurrences by targeting residual but
undetectable cancer cells that have survived initial chemotherapy.
To pursue those strategies, Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso has developed
clinical trials supported by funding agencies and also founded a
start-up company, HiberCell, that is conducting clinical trials and
drug development. His work is revealing ways to maintain residual
cancer-cell dormancy, kill dormant cancer cells, and use
biomarkers to determine whether disseminated cancer cells are in a
dormant or active state.
Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso is a reviewer for top-tier journals and for
federal, private, and international agencies. His work has
been published in journals such as Nature, Nature Cell
Biology, Nature Cancer, Science, and Cancer
Cell.
Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso is currently an Endowed Mount Sinai
Professor of Cancer Biology in the departments of medicine,
otolaryngology, and oncological sciences at the Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai. He
co-leads the cancer mechanisms program at The Tisch Cancer
Institute and directs head and neck cancer basic research in
the department of otolaryngology. He is a member of Mount Sinai's Precision Immunology Institute
and the Black Family Stem Cell Institute. He is also president of
the Metastasis Research Society and has served at several
leadership levels at American Association for Cancer Research.
Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso received his Ph.D. from the University of
Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1997
and completed his postdoctoral training as a Charles H. Revson
Fellow at what is now the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2003. He became an assistant
professor at the State University of New
York-Albany the same year and, since 2008, has been at
Mount Sinai, which he joined as an
associate professor.
About Albert Einstein Cancer Center
The Albert
Einstein Cancer Center (AECC) was one of the first academic cancer
research centers to receive a National Cancer Institute
(NCI)-designation, which it has held continuously since 1972. For
nearly 50 years, research scientists have made fundamental
discoveries revealing why cancers form, grow, and spread. The
center's clinical and translational investigators are developing
novel approaches to cancer diagnostics and treatment and its
population scientists are making major contributions to the
understanding of the epidemiology of the main cancer types in the
Bronx patient population as well
the potential viral and other environmental causes of cancer and
how to prevent it.
The clinical investigators at AECC are conducting hundreds of
clinical trials each year. Together, they provide access to the
most advanced treatments for residents of the Bronx and Hudson Valley. Approximately 80% of
its clinical trial participants are racial or ethnic minorities,
and it is one of only 14 minority/underserved clinical sites
designated by the NCI Community Research Program. AECC/Montefiore
has been named a high-performing center in both adult and pediatric
cancer by U.S. News & World Report, reflecting its
commitment to delivering advanced patient-centered,
multidisciplinary care.
About Albert Einstein College
of Medicine
Albert Einstein
College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier
centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation.
During the 2020-21 academic year, Einstein is home to 721
M.D. students, 178 Ph.D. students, 109 students in the
combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 265 postdoctoral research fellows.
The College of Medicine has more than 1,900 full-time faculty
members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates.
In 2020, Einstein received more than $197
million in awards from the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at
Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes,
cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and
AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating
its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience,
cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and
racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the
University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein,
advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace
at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that
benefit patients. Einstein runs one of the largest residency and
fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions
in the United States through
Montefiore and an affiliation network involving hospitals and
medical centers in the Bronx,
Brooklyn and on Long Island. For more information, please
visit einsteinmed.org, read our blog, follow us on Twitter,
like us on Facebook, and view us on YouTube.
About Montefiore Health System
Montefiore Health
System is one of New York's
premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in
providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to
approximately three million people in communities across the
Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is
comprised of 11 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at
Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and close to 200
outpatient care sites. The advanced clinical and translational
research at its medical school, Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care
and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of
Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and
transplantation, to its preeminent school-based health program,
Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system
providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their
families. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org.
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