Leading Cancer Researcher with National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Joins UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

3/24/2022

PITTSBURGH – Charles Edward Geyer, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.P., will join UPMC Hillman Cancer Center as co-director of its National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network efforts. Geyer, who is a medical oncologist and physician-investigator, will continue to serve as the chief scientific officer of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Foundation, chair of the NSABP Foundation Breast Cancer Committee and medical oncology co-chair of the NRG Oncology Breast Committee. His primary appointment at UPMC Hillman will be in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, led by division chief, Dr. Taofeek Owonikoko, M.D., Ph.D.

“Dr. Geyer brings a level of expertise in clinical research that will provide for new and improved opportunities for treatment of early-stage breast and colorectal cancers,” said Robert Ferris M.D., Ph.D., director of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. “In addition, Hillman’s existing relationship with the NSABP will be strengthened with Dr. Geyer’s leadership, as we expand our breast and GI cancer research collaborations with internal and external experts.”

Geyer will work closely with internationally respected surgeon Norman Wolmark, M.D., F.A.C.S., current chair of the NSABP Foundation, and with the co-leaders of the UPMC Hillman breast program to enhance and develop investigator-initiated clinical trials and research programs. He will focus on immunology and immunotherapy, cancer therapeutics, biology and virology, and genome stability.  When he starts his new role on April 1, he will also become part of a team of breast cancer clinicians and investigators at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. 

“We are very fortunate to have recruited Dr. Geyer to the headquarters of the NSABP Foundation and to the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center,” said Wolmark, also a professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “He has a wealth of experience in the formulation and implementation of national and international practice-changing clinical trials in breast cancer. His leadership will strengthen the ability of the NSABP to utilize the formidable translational research capacities of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh.”

Geyer earned his medical degree from the Texas Tech University School of Medicine and completed his internship, residency, chief residency and medical oncology fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in Houston. He is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. He previously served with the NSABP in Pittsburgh as the director of medical affairs from 2004-2011. He has also held several leadership roles at prestigious cancer centers in Virginia and Texas and has served on numerous hospital committees. Geyer has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and served as co-chair of steering committees for practice-changing international phase III studies such as the KATHERINE and OlympiA trials.

“It has been a privilege to serve in leadership roles for the NSABP over the past 20 years and NRG Oncology for the past eight years, which provided successful research collaborations with the superb breast cancer clinicians and investigators of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center network,” said Geyer. “The opportunity to join them in providing compassionate and innovative care for breast cancer patients enhanced by the vibrant translational research program at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, while expanding the productive collaborations in breast and colorectal cancers between these premier research organizations, is extraordinary.”

PHOTO INFO:

CAPTION: Charles Edward Geyer, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.P.

CREDIT: Charles Geyer Jr.