The mission of the Hematology/Oncology Division at the University of Kansas Medical Center is to provide compassionate and state of the art medical care to patients with malignancies and hematologic disorders. This is performed in an academic institution with a commitment to training health care professionals and research. The Division is committed to providing the highest quality training experience for Hematology/Oncology fellows, Internal Medicine house staff and medical students. In order to provide the most compassionate and state of the art medical care, the Division is committed to practicing in an environment that puts the patient’s needs first. The Division provides a high quality inpatient and outpatient practice environment. Members of the Division practice in a multi-disciplinary setting and are dedicated to provide the highest quality research programs to our patients. This includes design and participation in clinical trials and a commitment to translate findings in the laboratory to the patient as rapidly as possible. The Division is also committed to finding a cure for these diseases and will also work with basic researchers to provide patient material that can be studied in the laboratory for further ground breaking translational research.
Members of the Division are experts who sub-specialize in areas of hematology and oncology. These include physicians and basic scientists who are nationally and internationally known for their research and clinical expertise in the areas of lung cancer; gastrointestinal (colon, stomach, liver, and esophagus) cancer; breast cancer and prevention; head and neck cancer; melanoma; sarcoma; genitourinary (bladder, prostate and testis) cancer; brain cancer; lymphoma; multiple myeloma; acute and chronic leukemia; inpatient cancer care; blood and bone marrow disorders; abnormal coagulation; and bone marrow and stem cell transplantation. All of these specialists closely collaborate with specialists in other fields of medicine to provide high quality, state of the art and cutting edge treatment and research.
The Division is recognized for outstanding teaching. Members of the Division have received numerous awards recognizing them for their teaching. These include the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Classroom Teaching; the Ruth Bohan Teaching Professorship for Excellence in Teaching; the Student Voice Award; the Rainbow Award for Teaching the Art Medicine by example; Outstanding Teaching Award for the Department of Internal Medicine for excellence in house staff teaching; and Max S. Allen Clinical Scholar Award. Members of the Division are also involved in the development of various aspects of the medical student curriculum as well as curricula for house staff and fellows. One of our fellows is a NIH K-30 training fellow.
Research funding for the faculty has been obtained from multiple sources including the NIH, private foundations, and pharmaceutical companies. We have researchers who are nationally and internationally known for their areas of research expertise and funding. Basic scientists in the Division have research laboratories evaluating infertility and the basic biology of several cancers. One group of our basic and clinician scientists focus on the carcinogenic role of the Wnt signaling pathway in breast, prostate and esophageal carcinomas. Other basic researchers and clinician scientists are collaborating to conduct ground breaking research on biomarker based risk assessment and prevention of breast cancer and the development of breast tissue biomarkers to assess efficacy in Phase II breast cancer prevention trials. This group also conducts Phase II drug and behavioral prevention and survivorship clinical trials in patients who have been treated for breast cancer. Another researcher is evaluating the role of soy isoflavones and herbal supplements to prevent prostate cancer. The Deputy Director of the cancer center is also a member of the Division and her focus is on novel therapeutics for the treatment of lung cancer, predictive biomarkers for response to therapy and exploring novel early detection and screening methods for lung cancer. All of these researchers are nationally and internationally recognized for their discoveries in these areas.
We have a very active clinical trials program with active investigator initiated clinical trials evaluating novel agents and therapeutic strategies in efforts to improve the treatment of all types of malignancies and to improve the results of allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplantation. Our clinical investigators have also been leaders in the development of many Phase II and III cooperative group clinical trials. The results of some of these have led to changes in practice and the standard of care of several malignancies. The Hematology and Oncology faculty are all considered leaders in their respective areas of expertise.
Sunil Abhyankar, MD
Omar Aljitawi, MD
Snigdha Banerjee, PhD
Sushanta Banerjee, PhD
Joaquina Celebre Baranda, MD
Animesh Dhar, PhD
Gary C. Doolittle, MD
Carol J. Fabian, MD
Allan R. Fleming, MD
Siddhartha Ganguly, MD, FACP
Nisreen Haideri, MD
Chao H. Huang, MD
Suman Kambhampati, MD
Qamar J. Khan, MD
Jennifer R. Klemp, PhD, MPH
Joseph P. McGuirk, DO
Prakash Neupane, MD
Brian K. Petroff, DVM, PhD
Ruben Reyes, MD
Priyanka Sharma, MD
Sarah A. Taylor, MD
Peter J. Van Veldhuizen, MD
Stephen K. Williamson, MD
Fellowship Program: 913-588-0348
Academic and Administration: 913-588-6029
Clinical: 913-588-7750
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The University of Kansas Medical Center