Richard V. Smith, an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat, or ENT, doctor) and head and neck surgeon is actively involved in numerous research projects studying cancers of the head and neck. His research focuses on identifying genetic and biological aspects of such cancers that correlate with a patient’s prognosis. His goal is to help determine the optimal treatment for an individual patient, maximize their chance of cure, and minimize treatment-related side effects. In addition, his clinical investigation has focused on developing new techniques in transoral surgery, a less invasive form of surgery through which the surgeon gains access through the mouth. At the same time, he seeks to assess the quality of life benefits of such treatments. His service to professional medical societies includes serving as president of the New York Head and Neck Society and president of the New York Laryngological Society.
Thomas Ow is a Head and Neck Surgeon and Translational Researcher at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He specializes in the surgical treatment of tumors in the head and neck region, including those that occur in the mouth, throat, larynx, neck, sinuses, salivary glands, and thyroid gland. He also specializes in the surgical treatment of skin cancers that occur on the scalp, face, and neck. His research is focused on the translation of genetic and molecular determinants in head and neck squamous cell cancer into clinically useful biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Specifically, he is studying factors that contribute to radiation and chemotherapy resistance in this disease, as well as genomic alterations acquired during the process of locoregional recurrence, lymph node spread, and distant metastasis. As a translational scientist, he is involved in active projects studying laboratory models of HNSCC, research utilizing patient tumors, as well as clinical research, both retrospective studies and prospective clinical trials. The ultimate goal of this work is to identify novel ways to improve the survival and functional outcomes among patients with HNSCC.
Michael B. Prystowsky is professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. He received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences, The Pritzker School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He has contributed to the understanding of IL2-driven T lymphocyte activation, structural requirements for GM-CSF activity, to the molecular and whole animal studies of inflammation focusing on A1, an anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member that he discovered. During the past 18 years, he has organized a multidisciplinary group, including surgery, oncology, pathology, molecular biology, protein chemistry, computational biology, and biostatistics to study Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). Initial studies on molecular classification of HNSCC using microarray technology demonstrated that patient segregation by gene expression profiling is a better predictor of outcome than established clinicopathological variables. The Head and Neck Program includes multiple laboratories, with research exploring basic mechanisms of tumor behavior, developing biomarkers, and identifying molecular classifiers that define distinct subsets of patients. The questions arise from the tumor board, from taking care of patients, with the primary goal of developing new diagnostics that will optimize treatment selection at initial diagnosis.
Thomas James Belbin currently works as an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Oncology, Memorial University of Newfoundland. His current research is focused on the analysis of DNA methylation in the genomes of head and neck cancer cells. These biomarkers can be used to identify sequences frequently methylated in tumor cells and to characterize previously indistinguishable subtypes of this disease. This should lead to more unique gene discoveries and, in the future, new targets for anti-tumor drugs.
