The Siteman Blood Cancer Center, recognized internationally as a leader in innovative care, draws patients from across the U.S. and overseas. The center brings together the multidisciplinary expertise of WashU Medicine physicians who have a singular focus on treating blood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes. They have long been at the forefront of transforming care and pushing the boundaries of what's possible in managing these complex cancers.
Such progress stems from a solid foundation of research-informed care championed by leukemia expert John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, the Virginia E. and Sam J. Golman Endowed Professor of Medicine, who led WashU Medicine's Division of Oncology for more than 25 years. He was instrumental in establishing Siteman's bone marrow transplant program for patients with blood cancers as one of the world's best, and his ongoing research at WashU Medicine continues to move the field forward. In addition to developing novel cell-based immunotherapies, he is focused on alleviating graft-versus-host disease, a potentially deadly complication of bone marrow transplantation. His research has been fundamental to the FDA approval of medications to mobilize stem cells for transplant and the first drug approved to treat graft-versus-host disease.
WashU Medicine's expertise in blood cancers runs deep. Physician-scientist Daniel C. Link, MD, also specializes in leukemia and conducts innovative research aimed at developing better treatments for blood cancer. He is deputy director of Siteman and director of the Division of Oncology. Link is a world leader in understanding hematopoiesis, the process by which different types of blood cells are formed and has helped develop WashU Medicine's hematopoietic malignancy research program into one of the top such programs in the country. He also leads efforts aimed at boosting translational research and moving promising investigational treatments - developed at WashU Medicine - into clinical trials.
In addition to Link, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine, the Siteman Blood Cancer Center is led by Amanda F. Cashen, MD, a professor of medicine and associate chief of the Hematologic Malignancies Program, and Brad S. Kahl, MD, a professor of medicine and director of the Lymphoma Program.
