Nevada Cancer Institute Hires New Faculty Members
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tiffany Hauck, (702) 737-3100, thauck@kirvindoak.com
Las Vegas – June 22, 2010 – Nevada Cancer Institute is pleased to announce that five new cancer experts have joined its interdisciplinary faculty to help treat and discover a cure for cancer.
“Nevada Cancer Institute continues to build its team of experts in order to fully meet the needs of Nevada’s cancer patients and establish a nationally recognized cancer center,” said John C. Ruckdeschel, M.D., NVCI Director and CEO, Murren Family Distinguished Director’s Chair. “The addition of new faculty brings us another step closer to realizing our mission of becoming the state’s first comprehensive cancer center, as defined by the National Cancer Institute.”
Stephen G. Patterson, M.D.
Genitourinary Cancer Interdisciplinary Team
Chief Medical Information Officer and Fellowship Director
Dr. Stephen Patterson is an expert in the care and management of prostate cancer and other genitourinary malignancies. He is also highly experienced in medical informatics and will serve as the chief medical information officer in order to ensure the smooth integration of new communications technology and patient care.
Dr. Patterson received his medical degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa. He completed his internal medicine residency, along with a medical oncology/hematology fellowship, also at South Florida. Immediately after his fellowship, he worked in a community-based setting at Bay Area Oncology for four years. He then joined the faculty at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, working as an assistant, then associate professor, of the Genitourinary Oncology Program. During his appointment at Moffitt, Dr. Patterson served as the chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, chief medical information officer and medical director of the Outpatient Infusion Center.
Dr. Patterson has been principal investigator and co-investigator on various national clinical trials with multiple National Institutes of Health and industry-funded grants and contracts, starting in 2001. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Additionally Dr. Patterson is the author of numerous abstracts and peer-reviewed journal articles.
J. Francis Turner, Jr., M.D., FACP, FCCP, FCCM
Thoracic Oncology Interdisciplinary Team
Head of Interventional Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Dr. J. Francis Turner is a pulmonologist who has joined the Thoracic Oncology team. He is an expert on the management of chronic lung diseases that often interfere with the safe and effective treatment of lung cancer. Dr. Turner is an experienced bronchoscopist and will bring the first availability of Endobronchial Ultrasound to the Las Vegas area. He will oversee NVCI’s efforts in the early detection of lung cancer and manage the Institute’s critical care activities.
Dr. Turner brings more than 20 years of medical experience to NVCI. Board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine, he completed an additional year of Interventional Pulmonary Fellowship after service in the U.S. Army. He served as the chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine and Governor for Nevada for the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Turner worked as the director of Interventional Pulmonology at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
In Nevada, Dr. Turner has had several medical roles and positions: clinical professor of medicine for the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas; adjunct research faculty at the National Supercomputing Center for Energy and the Environment, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and chief, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine & VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System, Las Vegas.
In addition to his medical and research roles, Dr. Turner is a frequent speaker on interventional pulmonary issues, and an editor of the Journal of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology.
Matt VanBrocklin, Ph.D.
Drug Discovery Program
Dr. Matt VanBrocklin's research focuses on identifying novel molecular targets that can be developed for therapeutic intervention strategies. Primary interests lie in targeting signal transduction pathways and key components that are vital to tumor survival. Primary tumor types that are being studied include melanoma glioblastoma, NSCLC and breast cancer. The intent is to develop rational preclinical therapies which can be further developed clinically.
Dr. VanBrocklin earned his B.S. degree in biomedical science from Western Michigan University in 1995 and his M.S. in immunology from the Mayo Graduate School in 2000. In 2007 he earned his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences with an emphasis in tumor biology from Western Michigan University. While pursing his degrees he worked as a research technician at the Upjohn Company, Mayo Clinic and The Van Andel Research Institute. In 2007 Dr. VanBrocklin joined Dr. Holmen’s lab at NVCI as a postdoctoral fellow and in 2010 joined the faculty as an assistant member.
Robert P. Whitehead, M.D.
Gastrointestinal Tumor Interdisciplinary Team
Dr. Robert Whitehead is a medical oncologist with a particular interest in GI malignancies. He has been the principal coordinator and co-coordinator on 19 national clinical protocols and multiple industry-funded grants and contracts, as well as authoring more than 40 abstracts and presentations, 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and 3 book chapters. He is a longtime member of the Southwest Oncology Group where he has led multiple national clinical trials in gastrointestinal and other cancers evaluating new chemotherapy and immunotherapy agents.
Dr. Whitehead received his medical degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, then served as a senior assistant surgeon for the United States Public Health Service, Indian Health Service in Sells, Arizona. He conducted his internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and had an oncology fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His postdoctoral fellowship was done at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Whitehead served as an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and later at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; as an associate professor at Texas Teach University Health Science Center, Lubbock, and at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. Most recently he was on the faculty of the Medical University of South Carolina.
Richard A. Gross, M.D., FACP
Chair, Department of Internal Medicine
Dr. Richard Gross comes to Nevada Cancer Institute to lead the Institute’s efforts in integrating the internal medicine needs of the Institute’s primarily older population with their cancer treatment needs. He will lead NVCI’s Pre-Operative Assessment Center and play a major role in the new Center for Prevention, Risk and Screening.
Dr. Gross received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He completed a three-year internal medicine residency at the University of Rochester Associated Hospitals, Rochester, New York. Dr. Gross served as a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, Milwaukee and Madison campuses, and at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Tucson. At the University of Arizona, Dr. Gross became the chief, Section of General Internal Medicine. Prior to coming to NVCI, he served as the chair, Department of Internal and Hospital Medicine, at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Fla.
He brings more than 30 years of outstanding medical experience to the Institute’s chair for the Internal Medicine Department. Dr. Gross has proven expertise as a skilled clinician and able administrator in the field of internal medicine, as well as demonstrated ability as a professor of medicine. He is the author of various peer-reviewed publications and medical textbooks and book chapters.
About Nevada Cancer Institute
Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI) is the official cancer institute for the State of Nevada. A nonprofit organization, NVCI is committed to reducing the burden of cancer by pursuing the development of a comprehensive cancer center, as defined by the National Cancer Institute. Through the knowledge and expertise of the finest scientists, clinicians, educators and caregivers, the Institute provides hope to communities in Nevada, the southwest and beyond through research, education, early detection, prevention and high quality patient care. NVCI is striving for a future without cancer that is achieved through innovative and collaborative research in basic, clinical and population science. For more information, please visit www.nevadacancerinstitute.org or call (702) 822-LIFE.
