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Steven R. Grossman, M.D., Ph.D., has been named division chair in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Care in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and at VCU Massey Cancer Center, effective July 1, 2011.

Grossman, an internationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal cancers, comes to VCU from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass., where he is currently an associate professor in the Departments of Cancer Biology and Medicine. He is also medical director of the Simonds-Sinon Regional Cancer Center and co-director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Oncology at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center.

Grossman, who will hold the Dianne Nunnally Hoppes Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at VCU Massey Cancer Center, is a researcher and physician with specific clinical and research interests in gastrointestinal cancers. He is also an accomplished scientist who currently holds two National Institutes of Health grants and a prestigious Research Scholar Award from the American Cancer Society. The grants support his research examining the role of tumor suppressor proteins in cancer. Building on this research, he is developing a potentially new way of treating pancreatic cancer.

Grossman was also awarded a Kimmel Scholar Award from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research and a Howard Temin Pathway to Independence Award in Cancer Research from the National Cancer Institute. Both prestigious grants support the work of researchers advancing the understanding of basic cancer biology and the development of new methods for its prevention and treatment.

At VCU, Grossman will work closely with John E. Nestler, M.D., professor and chair in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Gordon D. Ginder, M.D., director of VCU Massey Cancer Center, to position VCU as a premier center for cancer research and clinical care.

As the chair of one of the largest divisions in the Department of Internal Medicine, and as the leader of one of the most important and largest academic units contributing to Massey Cancer Center, Grossman will play a key role in defining the strategic vision and future of educational programs, research and clinical service lines related to oncology. He will be provided with substantial resources for the recruitment of physician-scientists, clinical educators and clinicians to VCU, and for the advancement and expansion of clinical and research programs.

"We are very pleased to have Dr. Grossman take the helm of our medical oncology programs. He will make major contribution to the School of Medicine's educational, research and clinical missions of the School of Medicine," said Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine.

"Dr. Grossman brings considerable skills, experience and expertise to a leadership position critical to VCU Massey Cancer Center," Ginder said. "His addition is integral to our long-term growth and continued success as a leading center of cancer research and treatment."

Grossman received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the Harvard Medical School affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and completed a fellowship in medical oncology and postdoctoral research training in the laboratory of David Livingston, M.D., at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. 

Written by: Jenny Owen