DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--City of Hope’s Markus Müschen, M.D., Ph.D., the founding chair of the Department of Systems Biology, has received The Norman and Sadie Lee Foundation Professorship in Pediatrics. Müschen is the first City of Hope physician-scientist to serve as the Lee professor in pediatrics.
“City of Hope is profoundly grateful for The Norman and Sadie Lee Foundation’s support of Dr. Müschen’s quest to discover better treatments for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia,” said Robert Stone, president and CEO of City of Hope. “This new professorship recognizes Dr. Müschen’s exemplary accomplishments, unique vision and tireless dedication as he helps shape the future of cancer research through his groundbreaking pediatric oncology research.”
Müschen joined City of Hope in December 2016 to develop new approaches in treating pediatric leukemia for City of Hope, which has a strong track record in pioneering novel therapies for adult leukemia patients. His goal is to wipe out acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of cancer in children, by tapping into the strengths of computational biology for the discovery of better drugs for children with ALL.
After medical training in Germany and France, Müschen completed his M.D. thesis in biochemistry (summa cum laude) in the laboratory of Helmut Sies and joined the laboratories of Ralf Küppers and Klaus Rajewsky in Cologne and Janet D. Rowley in Chicago for postdoctoral training. In 2006, he was recruited to the United States to start his independent laboratory at the University of Southern California and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
In 2010, Müschen joined the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and was promoted to full professor and program leader of the Hematological Malignancies Program at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center. He joined City of Hope as the inaugural chair of the Department of Systems Biology. Given his main research interest in diagnosis and prevention of childhood ALL relapse, Müschen was also appointed City of Hope’s associate director of pediatric oncology.
Müschen has been named a scholar of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a senior investigator of the Wellcome Trust at the University of Cambridge, and Sir Alexander Haddow Professor of the Institute for Cancer Research in London. He is currently a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Faculty Scholar. In 2015, at age 42, he was selected as the youngest recipient in the inaugural class of the National Cancer Institute “Outstanding Investigator Awards” (R35).
His laboratory at City of Hope has also developed a multidiscipinary research program to study oncogenic signaling and clonal evolution in ALL, as well as a comprehensive research program that will predict relapse of ALL.
“The generous support by The Norman and Sadie Lee Foundation comes at a critical time as we launch the new Department of Systems Biology to leverage the power of genomic data and computational modeling towards curing childhood cancer,” said Müschen.
Established in 1978, The Norman and Sadie Lee Foundation supports organizations focused on medical research and services, culture and the arts, and education. The foundation is named in honor of the late Norman and Sadie Lee, Los Angeles philanthropists who were longtime supporters of City of Hope. The couple also were instrumental in the visit by the Queen of England to the City of Hope campus in 1983, and Norman Lee was a member of the City of Hope board of directors and board of trustees.
About City of Hope
City of Hope is an independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Designated as one of only 48 comprehensive cancer centers, the highest recognition bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, City of Hope is also a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, with research and treatment protocols that advance care throughout the world. City of Hope is located in Duarte, California, just northeast of Los Angeles, with community clinics throughout Southern California. It is ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” in cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation, diabetes and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs based on technology developed at the institution. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
