Pietenpol Named to Lead Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., was named in January to lead the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and its nearly 300 researchers and physician-scientists as director.

Pietenpol became interim director last February, when Ray DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., stepped down to become provost/executive vice president at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She quickly emerged as a strong and respected leader with the right mix of skills for the role, said Harry Jacobson, M.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Pietenpol, who also became B.F. Byrd Professor of Oncology, said she was honored to be in a position to bring together the strengths of an outstanding group of people for what she calls one of the most important goals – making a difference in the lives of cancer patients.

“We have tremendous depth of talent and dedication among our faculty and staff,” she said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that everyone on the team has what they need to continue their outstanding work.”

Pietenpol, also professor of Biochemistry, joins five other women at the helm of National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers, which form a foundation of cancer research and advancing cancer treatment in the United States.

A member of the Vanderbilt faculty since 1994, Pietenpol has served as the center’s associate director for basic science and translational research programs since 2002, and was an Ingram Professor of Cancer Research. She is a past program leader for Signal Transduction and Cell Proliferation, one of seven research programs in the center.

Over the past year, Pietenpol has overseen progress in an expansion that will double the capacity of the cancer outpatient clinic and chemotherapy infusion center, and she has worked closely with other leaders in the ongoing development of a new strategic vision for cancer care. The center recently edged into seventh place in National Cancer Institute funding and became a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of 21 of the world’s leading centers working together to improve cancer care.

After completing her doctoral degree in cell biology at Vanderbilt in 1990, Pietenpol served in the laboratory of Bert Vogelstein, M.D., at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center (now the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins).

Her own research focus is on tumor suppressor and cell cycle checkpoint signaling pathways in normal cells and how these pathways malfunction in tumor cells. The ultimate aim of her work is to define molecular changes that occur frequently in tumor cells and to use these alterations as targets for treatment. Currently, the Pietenpol laboratory is funded by the NCI, the Department of Defense and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

– by Cynthia Manley