Roles
Professor & Chair of Department of Orthopaedics
Chair &Chief of Service, Orthopedics - UM - UM Hospitals
Chair & Chief of Service, Jackson Health System
Full Member of the Tumor Biology Program, SCCC
Clinical Service Line Leader, Orthopaedics, SCCC
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Biography
After nearly two decades in Boston and then four years at UCLA, I joined University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as professor and chair of Orthopaedics. In addition to this leadership role, I have joined the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center under the leadership of Dr. Stephen Nimer asked me to help build the best sarcoma program in the world. I have brought my research laboratory in addition to some key clinical support to University of Miami from Boston and LA.
At UCLA I was able to grow the reputation and even improve the hospital standing nationally. In a similar fashion I hope to build the Department of Orthopaedics at the UM. Orthopaedic Surgery forecasts indicate change in the next decade towards more outpatient work and therefore expansion to meet the needs of UHealth not only in the tertiary Jackson Hospital but more so in the community where UHealth footprint is immense. This will mean working together with other major healthcare group such as Cleveland Clinic, Hospital for special surgery, and perhaps even the Rothman Institute. These Programs see the growth in population in Southern Florida as an opportunity to grow and are interested in growing with Uhealth and the UM Department of Orthopaedics. My professional career has focused on musculoskeletal tumors. This meant a wide range of activities ranging from difficult patient care to innovative basic science research but all with connections at some level to musculoskeletal neoplasms. The clinical care I provide has focused on orthopaedic oncology patients with complex spine and pelvis sarcomas. These patients have varied in age from babies to the elderly, referred specifically for this expertise from across the U.S. and many countries around the world. I worked together with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic as a founder of the Sacral/Pelvic Tumor Study group. I brought together experts in a rare disease field and develop a combined database to answer important questions about quality of life assessment following complex surgical procedures.
The management of patients with spine and pelvis sarcomas have been my clinical focus over my career and is best managed with a multidisciplinary approach. This approach to patient care is a stimulus for a variety of research endeavors to assess and improve patient outcomes. My clinical innovations include development of intraoperative methods of irradiation of the dura in patients with primary sarcomas of the spinal axis. Other clinical innovations include the treatment of patients with advanced stages of sarcoma with novel chemotherapeutic drugs and we have increased our participation in clinical trials significantly from prior years. I have also spent more than two decades transplanting allograft tissues to reconstruct tumor defects. My interest in allograft tissues has developed into an international reputation in tissue banking demonstrated by the important positions held by me within the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). My involvement with the AATB has matured my leadership skills to support and lead a major international organization. As I became internationally known for treatment of chordomas, I organized the first center for care of this rare tumor; the Stephan L. Harris Center for Chordoma. Just as that of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), I have organized a Chordoma Center at UCLA and plan to establish a similar center at University of Miami This center will be a leading center to manage this rare tumor and continue to host visitors and trainees from around the world interested in learning about emerging technologies.
Besides clinical care, I continue to assume more broad and progressive administrative responsibilities as now Chair of Orthopaedics at UM and at the national and international levels in various societies. My involvement with The SCCC will grow a multidisciplinary effort in sarcoma care. It is comprised of diversified medical specialists from multiple departments to come together to provide sarcoma care and perform outstanding basic and clinical research.
My basic science research interests have been diverse over the years. They include focus on dissecting the mechanisms of multi-drug resistance in human cancer. I have generated several drug resistant cell lines derived from different types of tumors. Together with Dr. Zhenfeng Duan we have identified small molecules to reverse drug resistance, and characterized molecular mechanisms governing growth and proliferation of human sarcoma cells. Previously, we have found multidrug resistance could be partially reversed by siRNA targeting of ABCB1 (MDR1) or by combination of nanoparticles with chemotherapy drugs. National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Nanotechnology Platform Partnership (CNPP) has awarded us a U01 grant for 5 years in collaboration with Northeastern University. I have already spoken to Engineering at UM who have a similar interest in nanotechnology. I have also studied the development of new chemotherapeutic drugs isolated from marine organisms for the treatment of sarcomas, which has led to various clinical trials over a decade. Screening of chemical libraries for biologically active compounds aimed at specific targets or pathway was a powerful approach we used to find novel therapeutic agents. I have continued my research efforts in the basic and clinical sciences and maintain integration with my clinical practice of orthopaedic oncology. Dr. Zhenfeng Duan has joined me at UM in these research efforts.
In addition to my clinical and research activities, I have been involved with the teaching of orthopaedic residents, general surgery residents, graduate students in the basic sciences, and medical students. I now am more closely involved in administrative aspects of teaching here at UM. I continue to give lectures to medical students with topics ranging from physical examination to bone and soft tissue tumor evaluations. I enjoying serving as a mentor in both clinical and research education to them.
In summary, as a surgeon-scientist, I have a clinical practice and direct basic science and clinical research projects dealing with sarcoma. The management of sarcoma patients is of high complexity necessitating a multidisciplinary approach. This approach to patient care has been a stimulus for a variety of multidisciplinary clinical and basic science research endeavors. The administrative responsibilities have been great and the management of a growing Orthopaedic Department at UM complex. The ability to blend and successfully manage all these responsibilities is a challenge that I have been excited to take on. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
Licensures and Certifications
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Honors & Awards
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Teaching Interests
Orthopaedic Oncology, Tumor Biology, Translational Oncology. -
Research Interests
Orthopaedic Oncology, Molecular Biology of Sarcoma, Multidrug Resistance. -
Publications
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Professional Activities
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