Internationally Renowned Medical Oncologist Robert L. Capizzi, MD, to Head Department of Medicine

Robert L. Capizzi, MD, has been named Magee Professor of Medicine and department chairman, effective April 1, 1996, according to the announcement made by Joseph S. Gonnella, MD, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean, Jefferson Medical College.

"Dr. Capizzi's past experience as a division head at an academic medical center, director of one of the nation's 26 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers and as a executive in a private-sector bioscience company involved in drug development, will enhance Jefferson's ability to support our mission of patient care, education and research. And there is no question that he will be a vital player as we expand our clinical trials activity," Dr. Gonnella said. Dr. Capizzi, who will assume his new position on July 1, succeeds José F. Caro as chairman of the department.

Dr. Capizzi, who comes to Jefferson after serving as executive vice president, Worldwide Research & Development for U.S. Bioscience, Inc. in West Conshohocken, has been an adjunct professor of pharmacology at Jefferson Medical College since 1992. While at U.S. Bioscience, Inc., for the past four and one-half years, Dr. Capizzi functioned as the chief scientific officer with leadership of the staff conducting laboratory and clinical research in the United States, Europe and Canada. These efforts culminated in regulatory approvals in international markets for Neutrexin for the treatment of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and Ethyol, the first broad spectrum cytoprotective agent in oncology. Dr. Capizzi was also involved in the scientific aspects of corporate alliances with other major pharmaceutical firms that are responsible for marketing and sales of U.S. Bioscience drugs in various countries.

Before joining U.S. Bioscience, Dr. Capizzi had been the Charles L. Spurr Professor of Medicine, head of the section of hematology/oncology and director of the cancer center at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During Dr. Capizzi's leadership, the cancer center received NCI peer review and award as one of the nation's 26 comprehensive cancer centers. He also served as the chairman of the Piedmont Oncology Association, an NIH-supported oncology clinical trials network throughout five states of the southeastern United States.

Before that time, Dr. Capizzi was co-director of the division of hematology/oncology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill after having served there as professor of medicine and pharmacology and chief of the division of medical oncology. Dr. Capizzi also served in the section of medical oncology at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he had been associate professor of medicine and pharmacology, and scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Yale. Dr. Capizzi is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Dr. Capizzi's many professional activities include executive positions in many professional societies and service on the Council for Research and Clinical Investigations Awards for the American Cancer Society (National Office), many NIH panels and study sections and the oncology drug advisory panel of the FDA. He is associate editor for Cancer Research, and he also serves on the editorial boards of Cancer Drug Delivery, Hematologic Pathology, Current Opinion in Oncology, Cancer Biotherapy and the Journal of Chemotherapy.

Dr. Capizzi is a fellow in the American College of Physicians, and his other professional memberships include Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, and the Pennsylvania Oncologic Society. He is the recipient of the U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal and the FDA Commissioner's Citation of Merit for service to the FDA.

Dr. Capizzi is author or co-author of chapters for 26 books, 128 journal articles and approximately 200 abstracts on drug development and chemotherapy for leukemia, lung, colorectal, ovarian and breast cancer.