Prominent cancer researcher Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, has joined the Desert Research Institute and Renown Health, both based in Reno, Nev., the organizations announced May 18.
Dr. Pandolfi will serve as a faculty member of the Renown Institute of Health Innovation — a collaboration between Renown Health and Desert Research Institute — and as director of the Institute of Cancer at Renown Health.
In his new roles, he will build a translational cancer laboratory at the institute's Reno campus to expand the success of the Healthy Nevada Project, a community-based population health study, into translational medicine, the institute and Renown Health said. He also will lead a cancer research institute in Italy.
"As a cancer researcher, my mission is to cure cancer. The Healthy Nevada Project and the combined resources of Renown Health and DRI give us access to an unprecedented amount of longitudinal data and the valuable genetic information we need to continue to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cancer and tailor approaches for treatments and cures that are unique to each individual," Dr. Pandolfi said in a news release.
"I am proud to take the unique resource of the Healthy Nevada Project, and use the information to accelerate our work to provide a population-level view of those factors that drive cancer, build better models and perhaps, timely new treatments," he added. "I am excited to build a strong collaborative bridge between the state of Nevada with our colleagues in Italy and across Europe, which will allow for the exchange of research fellows, physician scientists and interns."
Dr. Pandolfi is an Italian molecular geneticist. He most recently was director of the cancer center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School in Boston.