Mesa departing March 2023

 

Ruben Mesa, MD, FACP, executive director of the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio since August 2017, will join Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, in March 2023.

Patrick Sung, PhD, Director of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Institute, and an internationally renowned expert in inherited cancers, will become interim Director of the Mays Cancer Center. Mark Bonnen, MD will become Physician-in-Chief of the Mays Cancer to oversee its extensive clinical operations, both effective March 31, 2023.

“Dr. Mesa, a leading specialist in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), has significantly contributed to advancements in treating the disease,” said fellow cancer researcher Robert A. Hromas, MD, professor and dean of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. “Dr. Mesa is committed to the health and safety of patients, and he has led many initiatives for the cancer center. This includes playing a key role as an investigator in the development of ruxolitinib and RoPEG INFa2b (besremi), two drug therapies approved in polycythemia vera (PV), a controllable but chronic form of blood cancer. He will be missed, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

The Mays Cancer Center is one of four National Cancer Institute-Designated cancer centers in Texas and is among an elite group of cancer centers nationwide that bring superior patient care, transformative research and innovative prevention strategies to their communities.

“The Mays Cancer Center is on a growth trajectory,” said William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio). “The UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital, currently under construction and adjacent to the cancer center, will add inpatient clinical trials to the center’s portfolio and provide great benefit to the patients and families of our region. We will continue the Mays Cancer Center’s drive for excellence, we have recruited many fine cancer specialists, and the cancer center is excellently positioned to successfully compete for renewal of its NCI designation for the health of all in South Texas.”

A search for the executive director of the cancer center will be launched soon co-chaired by Amelie Ramirez, PhD, Chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences and a renowned expert in Hispanic cancer disparities, and Anand Karnad, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Mays Cancer Center.

We are grateful for Dr. Mesa’s contributions to the Mays Cancer Center in terms of program growth and recruitment and we wish him well in his new duties.



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