Internationally recognized physician-scientists joining fight against devastating childhood diseases as hospital expands clinical and basic science research
MEMPHIS, Tenn. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital officials today announced the appointment of three internationally recognized physician-scientists to leadership positions.
Mitchell Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., has been named chair of the St. Jude Department of Hematology. He was recruited to the institution from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Perelman School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he is a professor of pediatrics and holds an endowed chair.
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J. Paul Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., who joined the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology in 2008, has been appointed chair of the new St. Jude Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. He will also hold the Edward F. Barry Endowed Chair in Cell and Molecular Biology.
Kim Nichols, M.D., has been selected to launch the new Division of Hereditary Cancer Predisposition in the St. Jude Department of Oncology. She currently directs the CHOP Pediatric Hereditary Cancer Predisposition Program. She is also an associate professor of pediatrics at the UPenn Perelman School of Medicine.
"These gifted physician-scientists will enhance and expand our ability to translate discoveries and insight gained in the laboratory into clinical advances against diseases that continue to devastate children and families," said Dr. William E. Evans, St. Jude director and chief executive officer. The appointments followed a national search.
The announcement comes as St. Jude takes steps to broaden its basic and translational research programs and capitalize on its discoveries from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, said James Downing, M.D., St. Jude scientific director.
In his research, Weiss has advanced understanding of blood development and the alterations that can lead to life-threatening problems. He will lead a department that is internationally recognized for its role in advancing understanding and treatment of sickle cell disease, bone marrow failure, hemophilia, immune deficiencies and other non-malignant blood disorders. Those contributions include therapies to extend and improve the quality of life for children with sickle cell disease, gene therapy for treating hemophilia B, immune system deficiency and metabolic disorders.
