Neal Flomenberg, M.D., Named Chair of the Department of Medical Oncology at Jefferson
Bone
marrow transplant expert Neal Flomenberg, M.D., has been named the new
chair of the Department of Medical Oncology at Jefferson Medical
College of Thomas Jefferson University, Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia.
Dr.
Flomenberg, who is also Clinical Deputy Director at the Kimmel Cancer
Center and professor of Medical Oncology and Microbiology and
Immunology at Jefferson Medical College, has been interim chair
since2006. Prior to that, he was director of the Division of Medical
Oncology from 2003 to 2006, and acting director from 2001 to 2003. He
has beendirector of the Hematologic Malignancies and Hematopoietic Stem
Cell Transplant Program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the
Kimmel Cancer Center since coming to Jefferson in 1994.
“Jefferson
is indeed fortunate to continue to have Neal Flomenberg’s experience
and leadership in the Department of Medical Oncology,” says Michael J.
Vergare, M.D. Interim Dean of Jefferson Medical College and chair of
Psychiatry.
“Neal
Flomenberg’s superb skills as both clinician and scientist make him the
ideal choice to lead the department of Medical Oncology,” says Kimmel
Cancer Center director and Vice President for Oncology Services at
Jefferson Hospital, Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D. “His record of
achievement is impressive.”
An
accomplished researcher whose work has been supported by grants from
the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Flomenberg’s research interests
center on ways to make allogeneic transplants (using a donor, rather
than the patient’s own stem cells) safer. In addition, he is also
working to try to prevent deadly graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), the
bane of marrow and peripheral blood progenitor cell transplants, and
hopes to find ways to increase immune system recovery after allogeneic
transplant. These efforts have opened up opportunities for successful
transplantation of patients lacking a well matched donor.
Prior
to coming to Jefferson, Dr. Flomenberg was professor of medicine and
microbiology from 1991 to 1994 at the Medical College of Wisconsin and
associate professor of medicine at Cornell University Medical College
from 1990 to 1991. He was assistant attending physician at Memorial
Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases in New York from 1982 to 1990.
He was a research fellow and research associate, respectively, from
1980 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1984 at Sloan-Kettering Institute for
Cancer Research in New York. He was clinical assistant physician at
Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases and an instructor in
medicine at Cornell University Medical College from 1981 to 1982.
A recipient of numerous teaching and research awards, Dr. Flomenberg received the prestigious Service to Mankind Award
from the regional Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2006 and in 2003,
he was named the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of theYear for
Eastern Pennsylvania. In 2006, he was also recognized as that year’s
outstanding alumnus by the Pennsylvania State University Eberly College
of Science. He has published widely in such journals as Blood and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
and is a member of such organizations as the American Society for
Hematology, the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
and the Transplantation Society, and the Federation for Accreditation
of Cellular Therapy. He received the Gratz Award from Jefferson for
research efforts most likely to influence clinical practice.
Dr.
Flomenberg received a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State
University in 1974, and earned a doctor of medicine degree from
Jefferson Medical College in 1976 through a joint Jefferson-Penn State
accelerated medical degree program.
Media Only Contact:
Steve Benowitz
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 4/11/2008