Dr. Timothy Chan to lead Cleveland Clinic’s new Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-Oncology – Crain’s Cleveland Business

Dr. Timothy Chan, an immuno-oncology and cancer genomics expert, has been named director of the Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-Oncology at Cleveland Clinic, according to a news release.

He will lead the new center, which brings together multidisciplinary experts from across the system to advance research and treatment related to immuno-oncology, a rapidly growing field.

"Immunotherapy is the future of research in cancer and various other diseases and Cleveland Clinic has made it a priority by establishing this new center," Dr. Serpil Erzurum, chair of the Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, said in a prepared statement. "The Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-Oncology will empower clinicians and scientists throughout the enterprise to advance personalized cancer care and breakthrough immunotherapy research at Cleveland Clinic."

The center, which opened this month with the arrival of Chan, was approved in 2019.

Chan joins the system from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell School of Medicine, where he led the Immunogenomics and Precision Oncology Platform and was a tenured professor, the PaineWebber Chair and the Translational Oncology Division chair, according to the release, which notes he is a pioneer in using genomics to determine which patients will respond best to certain types of immunotherapies. He also joins the leadership of the National Center for Regenerative Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and is on staff in the Genomic Medicine Institute of the Lerner Research Institute and the Department of Radiation Oncology of the Taussig Cancer Institute, according to the release.

The Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-Oncology will have four arms: a Cleveland cell therapy program in collaboration with the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center; immunologic medicine and immuno-oncology labs; a precision immuno-oncology program; and a precision immuno-oncology and developmental therapeutics program.

The center will recruit experts from around the country and globe who specialize in computational science, immunotherapy and cancer immunology, according to the release.

Initially, the new center will have sites focused on immunotherapy research and developmental therapeutics in both Cleveland and the Cleveland Clinic Florida Research and Innovation Center, a 107,000-square-foot laboratory and office space slated to open this summer in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Chan will also collaborate with experts in the new Center for Global and Emerging Pathogens, which was announced last week after a year and a half of planning. This center looks to broaden the understanding of emerging pathogens (from Zika virus to SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19) and expedite critically needed treatments and vaccines.

"Innovation in precision immunotherapy is one of the most exciting areas in cancer research," said Dr. Brian Bolwell, chairman of Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, in a prepared statement. "The addition of Dr. Chan, a pioneer in cancer genomics, and the new center's focus on research and clinical trials will strengthen our ability to provide advanced treatment options for our patients."

Board certified in radiation oncology and an elected member of the Association of American Physicians, Chan earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in genetics from Johns Hopkins University, where he completed his residency in radiation oncology and a postdoctoral fellowship in the division of tumor biology, according to the release. He has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, has made landmark discoveries in his field and has received numerous awards, including the National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award in 2018, according to the release.

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Dr. Timothy Chan to lead Cleveland Clinic's new Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-Oncology - Crain's Cleveland Business