Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, Appointed Deputy Cancer Center Director for Translational Research and Co-Program Leader in Developmental Therapeutics at Fox Chase Cancer Center

PHILADELPHIA, PA (October 1, 2014)—Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, an international leader in translational research and one of 40 active American Cancer Society Research Professors, has been appointed Deputy Cancer Center Director for Translational Research and Co-Program Leader in Developmental Therapeutics at Fox Chase Cancer Center. In addition to the new leadership roles he will be assuming in the research domain at Fox Chase, Dr. El-Deiry will provide direct patient care to those seeking treatment for colorectal cancer. Dr. El-Deiry’s lab focuses on translational drug discovery and development with one of their main goals being the development of personalized therapy for patients with colorectal cancer –including appropriate screening, personalized pharmacokinetically-guided chemotherapy dose adjustment, recommendations for therapy based on tumor genetic signatures, and the identification of novel therapeutic combinations based on live circulating tumor cell culture and drug testing.

“It is with great pleasure that all of us at Fox Chase welcome Dr. El-Deiry,” says Richard I. Fisher, MD, President and CEO of Fox Chase Cancer Center. “His stellar credentials and expertise will help not only to carry on Fox Chase’s distinguished tradition of excellence in clinical care and research but also to lead us into a new era of scientific discovery and therapeutic advancement for our patients.”

Dr. El-Deiry comes to Fox Chase from Penn State University’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and the Penn State College of Medicine, where he was the Rose Dunlap Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Hematology/Oncology Division, and the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, where he was Associate Director for Translational Research and Program Leader of Experimental Therapeutics. He also served as Interim Cancer Center Director at Penn State in 2013-2014.

“I am delighted to join Fox Chase Cancer Center, where leading clinicians and scientists work together every day to improve the lives of patients in our region and beyond,” says Dr. El-Deiry. “It is a tremendous honor to be part of this world-class organization that has shaped our molecular understanding of cancer and to have an opportunity to collaborate in developing better ways of diagnosing and treating this dreaded disease.”

After earning his MD and PhD at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Dr. El-Deiry went on to complete an internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and an oncology fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore, Md. While at Johns Hopkins, he discovered p21 (WAF1) as a p53 target gene, universal cell cycle inhibitor, and tumor suppressor gene that for the first time explained the mammalian cell stress response – the most highly cited original work published in the journal Cell over the last 20 years.

Dr. El-Deiry has co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications and has been active in serving on many editorial boards, including those of the Journal of Clinical Investigation as well as Cancer Biology and Therapy, a publication he co-founded in 2001. He is an active participant in the National Institutes of Health review system and a member of several national physician honor societies including the Interurban Clinical Club started by Sir William Osler in 1905, American Society of Clinical Investigation, and American Association of Physicians.

A fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. El-Deiry has organized several international meetings including the International p53 Workshop and the International Conference on Tumor Progression and Therapeutic Resistance. He has won several awards including the Michael S. Brown Junior Faculty Research Achievement Award from the University of Pennsylvania, the Elizabeth and John Cox Award for Molecular Advances in GI Diseases and Cancer from Georgetown University, the international Kuwait Prize in Applied Sciences for "Cancer Diseases," the Distinguished Speaker Award from the Thomas Jefferson University School of Graduate Studies, and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Department of Medicine’s Excellence in Mentoring Award at the Penn State College of Medicine.  In 2014, Dr. El-Deiry was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars.