Tenured Professor
MD Anderson Cancer Center
My research work has been focused on pediatric solid tumors and the development of new agents. Through outstanding patient care and innovative research, I have achieved national and international recognition for my expertise in pediatric sarcomas and renal tumors. I led clinical trials for frontline treatment of osteosarcoma and renal tumors and conducted multiple Phase I and II trials within MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), St. Jude, The Children's Oncology Group (COG), and at international sites to develop novel therapies for pediatric cancer. These trials investigated novel conventional chemotherapy agents such as the camptothecins, molecularly-targeted agents such as the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, the insulin-like growth factor receptor-1inhibitors, and the vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor, and most recently aerosol anticancer therapy and immunotherapy with natural killer cells. I served as a member of the COG Developmental Therapeutics Committee, and currently I am a member of the COG Bone Sarcoma Committee and Kidney Tumor Disease Committee. I have served as the institutional principal investigator for the COG at MDACC. In addition, I have served as a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Education Committee for the Pediatric Oncology Track and currently for the Sarcoma Track. I am also a member of the Scientific Programme Advisory Committee of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP). I was named the leader of the MDACC Osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma Working Group and have served as a co-leader for the Pediatric Biospecimen Science Team that aims at implementing universal and high-quality acquisition of annotated biospecimens. I am the co-Principal Investigator for two pediatric biobanking protocols for biological samples with clinical data annotation from patients seen in Pediatrics. In additiion, I am the leader of the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Education and Early Detection (LEAD) Pediatric Screening Program at MDACC.
