MENUU-M Rogel Cancer Center names 4 new leaders
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Expanded leadership team will oversee the center’s research efforts to help transform cancer prevention, therapy and survival
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center has appointed four new leaders to oversee the direction and operation of its research enterprise.
- Pavan Reddy, M.D., deputy director
- Alnawaz Rehemtulla, Ph.D., associate director for shared resources
- Anne Schott, M.D., associate director for clinical research
- Stephen J. Weiss, M.D., associate director for basic science research
“These individuals have demonstrated a commitment to excellence, collaboration and innovation in their research and leadership. I am confident this outstanding leadership team will have a major positive impact in advancing our mission of making discoveries that will transform cancer prevention, therapy and survival,” says Eric Fearon, M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and Emanuel N. Maisel Professor of Oncology.
All four roles will offer leadership and support to the center’s nearly 300 research investigators.
Pavan Reddy, M.D.
As deputy director, Reddy, professor and division chief of hematology/oncology at the University of Michigan, will have a key role in the center’s overall research direction and strategy. Reddy joined the U-M faculty in 2003 and is a leading scientist in understanding the biology and finding ways to prevent or treat graft-vs.-host disease, a common and deadly side effect of bone marrow transplantation.
“I am humbled and excited by the opportunity,” Reddy says. “My goals are to build on what is already an outstanding place and to bring together our center’s collective strengths toward making discoveries that will help improve the well-being of cancer patients.”
Alnawaz Rehemtulla, Ph.D.
Rehemtulla is Ruth Tuttle Freeman Professor of Radiation Oncology and a professor of radiology at the University of Michigan. He will be charged with adding new services and refinements to the Rogel Cancer Center’s shared resources, designed to support and enhance the capabilities of cancer researchers. Rehemtulla’s research interests include molecular imaging, mouse models of cancer, and the discovery and development of therapeutic molecules. He holds five patents and has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.
Anne Schott, M.D.
Schott, professor of hematology/oncology at the University of Michigan, will work with clinical researchers to set a strategy for achieving even greater impact in harnessing discoveries to make advances in clinical research. Schott treats patients with breast cancer and is an active clinical trialist, working with laboratory researchers to translate and test potential novel treatments in patients with breast cancer. She serves as a principal investigator on multiple clinical trials and is an active leader in SWOG, a worldwide network of researchers that design and conduct cancer clinical trials.
“We do clinical research to improve the survival, and quality of survivorship, for patients with cancer. My mission is to develop our Rogel Cancer Center’s capacity to offer every high-risk cancer patient an appropriate clinical trial option when a therapeutic decision needs to be made,” Schott says.
Stephen Weiss, M.D.
Weiss is the E. Gifford and Love Barnett Upjohn Professor of Medicine and Oncology and a research professor in the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute. He will oversee the Rogel Cancer Center’s four basic science research programs, which focus on cancer biology, genetics, developmental therapeutics and immunology. Weiss joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1982. He has served as division chief of molecular medicine and genetics and interim director of the Life Sciences Institute. Weiss’ research efforts focus on the mechanisms used by cancer cells to remodel tissue structure during tumor progression, invasion and metastasis.
The appointments became effective Sept. 15.