University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI)

Leadership

Merrill J. Egorin, MD

Dr. Egorinis the Co-Leader of the Molecular Therapeutics and Drug Discovery Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. He received his BA and MD from The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Egorin obtained his training in medical oncology and pharmacology at the Baltimore Cancer Research Center, then part of the National Cancer Institute. In 1981, he became a staff physician at the University of Maryland Hospital, where he rose to the position of Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology. From 1982 to 1998, Dr. Egorin held the position of Head of the Division of Developmental Therapeutics of the University of Maryland Cancer Center. Dr. Egorin was recruited to UPCI in 1998 to lead its clinical and preclinical pharmacology activities, and since 1998, he has held the rank of Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology. Dr. Egorin’s research focuses on rational development and application of antineoplastic agents. Key concepts regularly addressed in Dr. Egorin’s research involve the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic relationships of investigational and licensed antineoplastic agents and how those relationships can be assessed and modeled. Dr. Egorin’s professional affiliations include a fellowship in the American College of Physicians and memberships in the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He serves on the editorial boards of several medical journals and is editor-in-chief of Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. Dr. Egorin has authored or co-authored numerous book chapters and more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His professional accomplishments resulted in his being awarded the Joseph H. Burchenal Award for Clinical Research in 2006 by the American Association for Cancer Research and the inaugural Michaele Christian Award in Oncology Drug Development from the National Cancer Institute in 2007.

Department website: http://www.pharmacology.us/Faculty.aspx?FacultyID=40

John S. Lazo, PhD

Dr. Lazo is the Allegheny Foundation Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute and the Co-Leader of the MTDD Program at UPCI. Dr. Lazo’s laboratory was the first to clone the drug inactivating cysteine proteinase bleomycin hydrolase and to document its protective role in bleomycin-induced toxicity. His laboratory also was the first to establish metallothionein as a resistance factor for electrophilic anticancer drugs, such as cisplatin. Currently, his laboratory primarily focuses on the biological role of protein tyrosine phosphatases. Dr. Lazo graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a BA degree in chemistry and received a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan. He received postdoctoral training at Yale University, and he continued at the University as a faculty member for nine years. He was Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh for 17 years. Professor Lazo served as a Corporate Associate of Johnson & Johnson, has authored or edited seven books, published more than 270 scientific articles and reviews, has eight issued US patents, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Department website: http://www.pharmacology.us/Faculty.aspx?FacultyID=62