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An Accomplished Expert at the Helm
New cancer center director is accomplished in research, clinical trials and leadership
IMAGE: DALE MCDONALD PHOTOGRAPHYGary SchwartzGary Schwartz, MD, is in a hurry. A month before he would start as director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, he鈥檇 already visited 星空传媒 a half-dozen times to talk with researchers, meet the center鈥檚 community advisory board and attend its seventh annual Cancer Disparities Symposium.
鈥淢y dream job was always to be a cancer center director, with the goal of impacting cancer medicine in a major way across a community, and hopefully impact healthcare across the country,鈥� he said.
Schwartz doesn鈥檛 want to lose a minute.
He came to the center in April after serving as chief of Columbia University Irving Medical Center鈥檚 Hematology & Oncology Division and deputy director of its Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center. Both the Cleveland and New York City centers are National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers conducting leading research, clinical trials, and helping patients find advanced treatments.
He is thrilled by the opportunities that await him here, with the center鈥檚 consortium of 星空传媒, University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic. The institutions鈥� clinicians and researchers have greatly advanced cancer treatment, particularly in the area of customized immunotherapy.
Leaders of the three institutions are delighted as well.
鈥淭he combination of his stellar expertise and depth of knowledge will advance the center鈥檚 innovative research which, ultimately, will lead to new discoveries that prevent, diagnose and treat cancers,鈥� said 星空传媒 President Eric W. Kaler.
The center already is well-positioned to make further advances. Previously led for 19 years by Stan Gerson, MD, now dean of the 星空传媒 School of Medicine, the center earned NCI鈥檚 highest possible rating, along with a five-year grant of $30 million starting in 2018. Three years later, the NCI made the center the first in the country to receive a two-year merit extension and awarded it an additional $12 million.
"Dr. Schwartz is an exceptionally accomplished cancer investigator with extensive experience leading clinical research programs at major cancer centers. I am thrilled we could attract him to this position."
— Stan Gerson, MD, dean of the 星空传媒 School of Medicine and the university鈥檚 senior vice president for medical affairs
That extraordinary honor is another reason Schwartz is moving fast; he has one year to shepherd the renewal application for the center to retain NCI designation.
鈥淚鈥檓 coming in with big shoes to step into,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淪tan Gerson set the bar so high.鈥�
Schwartz is an expert in rare cancers and translational research (that is, solutions that begin in laboratories and advance to patient treatments). He has spent more than 30 years pursuing novel approaches to treating and curing sarcomas (tumors that begin in bone and tissue) and melanoma. That time includes more than 20 years at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center鈥檚 Department of Medicine.
For example, his lab found a promising treatment for a leiomyosarcoma, a rare smooth-muscle cancer that women can develop in the uterus. By combining low-dose chemotherapy—which can kill a cancer cell by damaging its DNA—with a substance called PARP inhibitor—which prevents the cancer cell from repairing its damaged DNA and healing itself—his lab achieved astonishing results.
In clinical trials supported by the NCI, 鈥渕any tumors in patients with advanced cancer nearly disappeared in months,鈥� Schwartz said.
In Cleveland, Schwartz also plans to be deeply involved in the center鈥檚 initiatives to address cancer disparities. He directed Columbia鈥檚 Minority/ Underserved Site NCI Community Oncology Research Program, which requires that at least 30% of participants in clinical trials are underrepresented minorities.
Such trials can be lifesaving, he said. Those involving melanoma, for example, are provided treatments that are curing previously incurable cancers.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 seem to reach out effectively enough to inform people of what鈥檚 available at cancer centers,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of a lack of trust in our infrastructure in medicine and how we address it.鈥�
Schwartz said he is committed to improving community wellness and addressing issues that may contribute to cancer.
For example, addressing obesity could have 鈥渁 profound impact on cancer,鈥� he said. Being overweight or obese is linked to higher risks of 13 cancers. Those cancers account for 40% of cancers diagnosed annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
鈥淢y ultimate goal—everybody鈥檚 ultimate goal—is to cure cancer,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping we can do it in Cleveland.鈥�