UAB Synopsis, Vol. 27, No. 32, September 1, 2008
Professor of Medicine and Spencer Chair in Medical Science Leadership, Department of Medicine, Edward Abraham, MD, announces the appointment of Boris Pasche, MD, PhD, a specialist in cancer genetics, as director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, effective September 1.
Dr. Pasche also will serve as associate director of translational research for UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. He joins UAB from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, where he was director of the Cancer Genetics Program of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and Feinberg School of Medicine and leader of the Cancer Genes and Molecular Targeting Program at the Lurie Cancer Center.
“Dr. Pasche is internationally recognized for his basic and clinical research on the genetics and treatment of cancer,” says Dr. Abraham, who lauded the service of interim Division Director Lisle M. Nabell, MD. “I am extremely appreciative of Dr. Nabell’s extraordinary effort and dedication in this post. The maintenance of investigational, clinical, and educational strength in the division during this transitional period is a tremendous tribute to Lisle’s leadership.”
“Dr. Pasche will provide the leadership needed to take scientific findings and move them rapidly to clinical settings,” says Comprehensive Cancer Center Director and Evalina B. Spencer Chair in Oncology Edward E. Partridge, MD. “His skill as a researcher in both clinical and basic science provides him with the broad perspective necessary to fulfill our mission of benefiting patients with our research.”
Dr. Pasche earned MD degrees from both the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, as well as a PhD degree from the Karolinska Institute. He completed his internship and residency in medicine at The New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical College. He was on the faculty of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before joining Northwestern University.
He serves on the National Cancer Institute Cancer Genetics Study Section, is a contributing editor to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and is editor of The Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research. Dr. Pasche is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
His primary research interests center on the genetics of cancer. He holds two NIH RO1 grants relating to TGF-B polymorphisms and breast and colon cancer.
‘A Genetics Treasure Trove…’
In a recent JAMA editorial (2008;299 [21]:2564-2565), Dr. Pasche commented on a study by Chang et al finding that a family history of colorectal cancer was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of cancer recurrence or death compared with patients without a family history of the disease.
He wrote: “If these intriguing findings are validated in other studies, family history may well become a new prognostic factor in colorectal cancer. Should this be the case, genome-wide association studies and tumor gene expression profiling studies will be warranted to identify germline and tumor-specific genetic features associated with a family history of colorectal cancer and favorable outcomes following adjuvant chemotherapy.”
He added “The study …suggests that family history of colorectal cancer will lead to the identification of novel genetic features predictive of response to chemotherapy. Familial colorectal cancer may therefore confirm its role as a genetics treasure trove for medical discovery.”