MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Stephen D. Nimer, M.D., one of the worlds premier leukemia and stem cell transplant researchers and clinicians, has been named the new director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Nimer, the Alfred P. Sloan Chair in Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, will assume the key University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and UHealth-University of Miami Health System post this spring, bringing 30 years of pioneering research and clinical experience and an unquenchable passion for improving the lives of patients with cancer, and their families.

The focus will not be solely on taking care of the cancer, it will be on taking care of the patient, said Nimer, whose patient-centered philosophy has won him as much acclaim as his clinical and laboratory accomplishments. That means trying to understand as fully as possible each patients cancer the biology driving the cancer, and the impact of the cancer on the patients life in order to develop a personalized therapeutic approach suited to each individual.

Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Miller School, and CEO of UHealth, said Nimer, who headed the Division of Hematologic Oncology at Sloan-Kettering for a dozen years, is the ideal physician-scientist to lead Sylvester into its third decade and to designation as one of the nations official comprehensive cancer centers by the NIHs National Cancer Institute.

Stephen possesses a unique combination of outstanding clinical skills and visionary scientific acumen in cancer research that will lead Sylvester to become the next top comprehensive cancer center in the U.S., Dean Goldschmidt said. He brings a true patient-centered approach to clinical care and leading-edge research that makes a real difference for our fellow humans. Cancer patients across South Florida and around the world will benefit from his expertise and leadership.

Dr. Nimer will be a spectacular leader for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said UM President Donna E. Shalala.This is a momentous development for the Miller School, the University of Miami, and all of South Florida.

Joseph Rosenblatt, M.D., who has served as interim director of Sylvester, said Dr. Nimers arrival will allow Sylvester to find its rightful place among the worlds premier cancer centers, and his leadership will usher in a new era for our cancer center, which I and our faculty anticipate with great enthusiasm.

Nimer, currently vice chair for faculty development at Sloan-Ketterings Department of Medicine, plans to develop and expand a number of services at Sylvester, including programs for breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and hematological malignancies, among others. He also plans to recruit more than 30 new scientists and physicians, develop key core facilities and expand the clinical and laboratory research capabilities.

He specifically hopes to recruit experts in areas such as bone marrow transplantation, mouse models of human cancer, and molecular diagnostics, as well as additional surgeons skilled in complex, curative and restorative procedures, such as breast reconstruction. He also will expand efforts in cancer prevention, screening and early diagnosis and in identifying those factors that predispose people to develop cancer.

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Internationally Recognized Leukemia Physician and Researcher to Lead Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center