Scott M. Lippman, MD, Named New Director of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center

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UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center director, Scott Lippman, MD.

Scott M. Lippman, MD, chair of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at The University of Texas (UT) MD Anderson Cancer Center, has accepted the position of director of Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, beginning May 1, 2012.

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, home to nearly 350 medical and radiation oncologists, cancer surgeons, and researchers, is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country.  It is part of UC San Diego Health System, the San Diego region’s only academic health system.

“As the new director, Lippman will implement strong initiatives for ramping up the research-driven cancer therapy and prevention programs and clinical trials of the Moores Cancer Center,” said David A. Brenner, MD, vice chancellor for Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at UC San Diego.  “His ultimate goal, and ours, is to facilitate the translation of novel discoveries from our world-class laboratories into personalized therapies.  I am confident that under Dr. Lippman’s leadership, research at Moores Cancer Center will benefit our patients and change standards of care for decades to come.”

Lippman currently holds the Charles A. LeMaistre Distinguished Chair in Thoracic Oncology and is professor of Cancer Medicine and Cancer Prevention at MD Anderson.  Lippman graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, did his internship and residency training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and had hematology/medical oncology training at Stanford University and the University of Arizona. He is triple board-certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology.

Lippman’s major fields of research are translational/molecular studies of cancer risk, molecular-targeted drug development and personalized therapy, with a long-standing record of funding from the NCI in these research areas, including recently as principal investigator of two program project (P01) grants and a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE). He is also leader of the Lung Cancer Program of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Support Grant and is co-investigator on the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) project involving molecular studies of lung cancer.

Lippman will bring to UC San Diego Health Sciences more than 25 years of experience as principal investigator of translational research involving investigator-initiated clinical trials.  He has participated in the national leadership of clinical/translational research planning and development within the NCI Cooperative Group setting and currently sits on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Trials/Translational Research Advisory Committee. He has served on several cancer center external advisory boards and major-trial steering committees, and has played a leadership role in major AACR and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) committees and programs.

In addition to extensive research and academic administrative responsibilities, Lippman plans to maintain an active clinical practice, including the accrual of new patients to clinical research protocols.  As a clinician, he is well-respected by his peers, with recognition in every major “Top Doctor” listing including recently in the U.S. News Top Doctors. 

Author of more than 300 publications in high-impact journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, PNAS, and The Lancet, and chapters in major medical textbooks, Lippman has received many awards, among them the ASCO-American Cancer Society Award, AACR Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation Award, and the ASCO Statesman Award, and he is an elected member of the prestigious Association of American Physicians.

His extensive record of extramural service includes serving on the Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee, NIH Clinical Oncology Study Section, and NIH Chemo/Dietary Prevention study section, which he currently chairs.  He has served on the editorial boards of several top-tier, peer-reviewed journals, including Cancer Research, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and Journal of Clinical Oncology, and is editor-in-chief of the AACR journal Cancer Prevention Research.  He also has chaired major scientific meetings including AACR and Keystone meetings and has given keynote lectures at major international scientific meetings.