Asa and Patricia
Shiverick Professor of Hematological Oncology;
Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Director, Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine
Education:
MD-Harvard University, 1977
Training:
University of Pennsylvania Hospital (Hematology-Oncology)
Special Interest:
Dr. Gerson's laboratory's long-standing interest is in evaluating the role of the DNA repair protein O6 alkyguanine-DNA alkyltransferase. One focus is its role in tumor drug resistance to nitrosoureas. He has been a leader in the discovery and development of the AGT modulator O6 benzylguanine. He has demonstrated the efficacy of O6 benzylguanine as a modulator in colon and breast cancer models. This observation has now been extended to a variety of other tumor types and has recently led to the introduction of O6 benzylguanine to the clinic as a modulator of AGT-directed DNA repair. The second focus is in gene therapy using AGT overexpression to protect bone marrow from chemotherapy; a clinical gene therapy is now underway. With Dr. Lili Liu, he has evaluated methoxyamino, an inhibitor of base excision repair, as a potentiator of methylating agent chemotherapy. Dr. Gerson plays an active role in the development of new therapeutics as the Associate Director for Clinical Research.
