Volume 16 Number 3, SPRING 1999

Stanford alums help lead Michigan’s cancer center, physical medicine and rehabilitation services.

BY CHRISTIE KNUDSEN

STANFORD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE GRADUATES HAVE MADE THEIR MARK AT INSTITUTIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN IN ANN ARBOR, CURRENTLY HOME TO AT LEAST NINE ALUMNI. EIGHT ARE FACULTY IN THE COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER AND ONE IS A PEDIATRIC PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION SPECIALIST, WHOSE ACTIVITIES INCLUDE HELPING AT A SUMMER CAMP FOR CHILDREN ON VENTILATORS.

AT THE CANCER CENTER:

"The legacy of this cancer center is the most important part of my career," says MAX WICHA, MD, (CLASS OF '74), director of the University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center since its inception in 1986. Instead of being given multiple appointments, patients with complex problems get a "one-stop" appointment in a multidisciplinary clinic with specialists who work together to develop a plan of action. Signs of success include, over the last 13 years, a 10-fold increase in funding from the National Cancer Institute and a 40-fold increase in private donations, says Wicha.

When she arrived at the University of Michigan five years ago, Stanford alumna J. SYBIL BIERMANN, MD, (CLASS OF '87), was the only orthopedic oncologist. She created the orthopedic oncology program and now works full time with patients of all ages who have bone and soft tissue tumors. "I'm currently developing a bone metastasis clinic, only the second in the nation, and we're really excited about it," says Biermann. The new multidisciplinary clinic is designed for patients to make one appointment and see the appropriate specialists, who work together to develop the best treatment plan.

In addition to directing the University of Michigan's pediatric hematology/oncology program, LAURENCE A. BOXER, MD, (CLASS OF '66), is co-authoring a book describing over 80 classic hematology papers and their impact on medicine. Before joining Michigan's faculty in 1982, Boxer served as a hematology fellow at Children's Hospital Medical Center at Harvard, where he co-wrote a classic paper demonstrating that antibodies from patients with neutropenia could damage normal neutrophils. Prior to this, he worked at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu on the diagnosis and treatment of chronic neutropenias and neutrophil dysfunction disorders. In 1997, Boxer was elected into the fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and in 1998, earned the Midwest Society for Pediatric Research Founders Award.

After investigating human actin genes at Stanford while earning a doctorate, and working at Harvard researching the proto-oncogene TAN-1, HARRY ERBA, MD, PHD, (CLASS OF '88), dramatically changed the focus of his career when he joined the Michigan cancer center in mid-1996 as an assistant professor of internal medicine. "In July '96, I made a very difficult decision: to forgo laboratory research in order to concentrate on caring for patients and doing clinical research," says Erba. "I found that being an effective teacher, laboratory scientist and great clinician is next to impossible in our current health care system, especially for someone like me who wants to be present in his kids' lives." His current clinical research projects include a phase III trial comparing the effectiveness and toxicity of amphotericin with voriconazole, a new anti-fungal with few side-effects; and evaluating the effectiveness and toxicity of an immunotoxin in the treatment of acute leukemia.

"Over the last 13 years, I've been developing a radioisotope tagged to specific antibodies to bring radiation directly to tumor cells in people with lymphoma," says MARK S. KAMINSKI, MD, (CLASS OF '78), director since 1987 of the university's leukemia/lymphoma program. "We think this treatment, called Bexxar, is more effective than other monoclonal antibodies and perhaps even better than chemotherapy, because in addition to its immune effects, it delivers radiation right where it's needed." In a current phase II study of 24 lymphoma patients who have never received any other treatment, 100 percent have had tumor remissions and 71 percent have achieved complete remissions.

The newest Stanford alumnus at Michigan's cancer center, CRAIG OKADA, MD, PHD, (CLASS OF '90), came on board in 1998 after working on immunotherapies for people with B- and T-cell malignancies with professor of medicine Ronald Levy, MD, at Stanford. "In each patient, these malignancies rearrange their antigen receptor genes in a unique way and make a protein with unique features (idiotype), which the immune system can identify," explains Okada. "We make an 'idiotype' vaccine and give it to the patient after chemotherapy." Levy's studies show that patients who respond to the vaccine are in remission six to eight years; normally the disease recurs in two years. Okada hopes to begin clinical trials of immunotherapy for the treatment of B- and T-cell lymphomas in the near future and to develop idiotype vaccines for patients with multiple myeloma who are receiving bone marrow transplants.

A radiation oncologist at Michigan since 1992, ERIC RADANY, MD, PHD, (CLASS OF '84), treats patients with brain tumors and studies basic mechanisms of aging, carcinogenesis and cellular responses to radiation. "We're doing an NIH-funded study using a group of genetically well characterized, but not inbred, mice that have different rates of biological aging to test a widely advanced model of aging: that aging is basically an accumulation of mutations inside cells," says Radany. "My clinical studies include comparing the effectiveness of extremely high doses of radiation delivered with very precise targeting and conventional radiation treatment in adults with malignant brain tumors."

As the chief of adolescent services in the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, VIRGINIA NELSON, MD, (CLASS OF '70), provides inpatient and outpatient services to children with disabilities. "The funnest part of my work is being camp doctor at Trail's Edge, a summer camp for kids, ages 3 to 18, who partially or totally rely on ventilators," says Nelson. "As of June '99, our tenth anniversary, we'll have given many ventilator-assisted children a summer camp experience complete with crafts, swimming, horseback riding, boating and other fun activities." SMD