Senior Leaders
Stephen D. Williams, MD
Director
Michael Darling, MHA
Associate Director of Administration
Fuad Hammoudeh
Administrator, Cancer Programs, Clarian Health Partners
Mark R. Kelley, PhD
Associate Director of Basic Science Research
James E. Klaunig, PhD
Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships
Patrick J. Loehrer, Sr., MD
Deputy Director
Kathy Miller, MD
Associate Director of Clinical Research
G. Marie Swanson, PhD
Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control Research
Stephen D. Williams
Dr. Williams serves as director of the IU Simon Cancer Center and is responsible for overall management of the center and its research programs. Dr. Williams has held this position since the IU Simon Cancer Center’s establishment in 1992. Under his leadership, the center has experienced tremendous growth, in terms of both funding and membership, and its research programs have become more focused on translational cancer research, thus, speeding the application of laboratory findings in the clinic. Also, under his direction, the IU Simon Cancer Center has continuously ranked as one of the top cancer treatment programs in the country.
With more than 25 years of professional experience, Dr. Williams has authored more than 150 articles in the medical literature and numerous abstracts and textbook chapters. His initial research interests were primarily in urologic cancer, serving as a prominent member of the germ cell tumor group at Indiana University. More recently, the focus of his research has been ovarian cancer and ovarian germ cell tumors. Dr. Williams has studied the late outcome and quality of life in patients successfully treated and cured of this latter tumor. He currently is seeking to identify new therapeutic approaches to advanced epithelial cancer.
Dr. Williams received his medical degree in 1971 from Indiana University, where he also completed his internship, residency, and oncology fellowship. He currently serves as professor of medicine and H.H. Gregg Professor of Oncology at Indiana University.
Dr. Williams has had numerous scientific and educational leadership positions on the local and national level. Locally, he was chief of the Hematology/Oncology service at the Indianapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center for 14 years. He also directed the fellowship program in Hematology/Oncology at Indiana University School of Medicine for nine years. Nationally, he has been an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and has served on its program committee on three occasions, being section chairperson once. He recently completed a term on the ASCO Education Committee. He has been active in the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), an NCI-sponsored clinical trial cooperative group composed of more than 50 member institutions. Dr. Williams previously was an elected member of the GOG Executive Committee and chaired its Ovarian Committee for nine years.
Dr. Williams also holds prominent positions in the local community. He co-chairs the cancer section of the Biocrossroads - Central Indiana Life Sciences Network, a public and private consortium that seeks to develop new commercial opportunities in the life science area in central Indiana. Dr. Williams also represents the IU Simon Cancer Center on the Steering Committee of the Indiana Cancer Consortium, an organization co-founded by the IU Simon Cancer Center through which state cancer organizations are collectively developing and enacting a state-wide cancer control program for Indiana.
Michael Darling, MHA
Mr. Darling has served as the associate director for administration since the IU Simon Cancer Center was established in 1992. In this role, Mr. Darling is responsible for financial management, facility operations, budget preparation, grants administration, and intra-institutional relations. He is the chief operating officer of the organization with responsibility for non-academic issues involving the administrative and operational activities. Mr. Darling also leads the planning and evaluation process, in particular the formal review of active and developing research programs.
Mr. Darling received a B.S. in allied health administration in 1980 and a master of health administration (MHA) in 1985, earning both degrees from Indiana University. Prior to assuming the role of associate director for administration, he served as the division administrator for Adult Hematology/Oncology for five years. He is an active member of professional associations, including Association of Cancer Executives and the Cancer Centers Administrators Forum and has served previously as a NCI consultant for various grant reviews.
Fuad Hammoudeh
Mr. Hammoudeh has 30-plus years experience in senior positions with several healthcare organizations. Hammoudeh joined Clarian Health in 2005 as administrator of cancer programs. Hammoudeh’s responsibilities include the overall leadership and operational management of the cancer programs, strategic planning, and development of comprehensive cancer programs, in collaboration with the IU Simon Cancer Center and the Indiana University School of Medicine. When the new IU Simon Cancer Center clinical facility is open in 2008, he will become administrator for that facility.
Prior to joining Clarian, he was the chief executive officer at the University of Tennessee Cancer Institute, and he has held various senior management positions with U.S. Oncology, a national oncology physician practice management company.
From 1986 to 1994, he was the CEO at Hancock Memorial Hospital in Greenfield, Ind., and he was the administrator at Jasper County Hospital in Rensselear, Ind. Hammoudeh has served as a board member of the Indiana Hospital and Health Association, president of Suburban Hospitals Inc., and chairman of the Hospital Licensing Council. He is a recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash award, the highest honor awarded by the governor of Indiana for distinguished service to the state.
Mark R. Kelley, PhD
Dr. Kelley was appointed associate director of basic science research in 2005. Dr. Kelley, the Jonathan and Jennifer Simmons Professor of Pediatrics, also serves as associate director of the Wells Center for Pediatric Research. In his role at the IU Simon Cancer Center, Dr. Kelley has both cancer research and educational responsibilities.
As associate director of basic science research, Dr. Kelley oversees all basic science activities of the IU Simon Cancer Center, including stimulating interdisciplinary research collaboration, evaluating new research opportunities and overseeing cancer center shared facilities. He recommends basic research space assignments and also has a major role in mentoring young investigators.
Dr. Kelley’s current research interests include molecular biology and biochemistry of eukaryotic DNA base excision repair (BER) genes. Specifically, his laboratory is investigating the use of DNA repair genes for therapy in chemotherapeutic paradigms. Furthermore, his lab has been studying the targeting of specific key points along the DNA BER pathway in order to enhance the killing of tumor cells, while not affecting normal cells. Dr. Kelley’s lab is also exploring the role of BER genes in neuronal cells.
Dr. Kelley has numerous patents relating to the use of DNA repair targets for cancer therapy, including identifying methods and compositions for first the diagnostic and then the therapeutic use of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases.
Dr. Kelley received his doctoral degree in genetics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at Rockefeller University in New York prior to serving as assistant professor at Loyola University Medical School in Chicago. Dr. Kelley currently serves on the editorial boards of both the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and Mutation Research: Molecular and Fundamental Mechanisms. He chairs the cancer etiology National Institutes of Health (NIH) study section. He has been continuously funded by the NIH and the Department of Defense (DOD) for many years.
James E. Klaunig, PhD
Dr. Klaunig was appointed associate director for strategic partnerships for the IU Simon Cancer Center in 2005. Dr. Klaunig is also leader of the developing Molecular and Environmental Carcinogenesis Program for the IU Simon Cancer Center, the Robert B. Forney Professor of Toxicology and director of the Division of Toxicology.
As associate director for strategic partnerships, Dr. Klaunig assists in the development of relationships with such entities as IUPUI, IU-Bloomington, Purdue Cancer Center, Discovery Park, Oncologic Science Center at Purdue University, the Indiana State Department of Health, as well as other potential partners.
Dr. Klaunig’s current research is directed toward two major areas. These include understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which natural and synthetic chemicals may induce or prevent cancer and secondly, the study of the effects of environmental agents on hepatic toxicity and carcinogenesis.
Dr. Klaunig currently serves on the editorial boards of Toxicological Sciences, Toxicologic Pathology, and Cell Biology and Toxicology. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including most recently the Who’s Who Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century (2002), Kenneth P. DuBois Award of the Midwest Society of Toxicology Chapter (2002), and Sagamore of the Wabash, presented by Gov. Kernan (2003).
Dr. Klaunig has served on numerous national advisory committees, including NIH study sections, the NIH/ NIEHS National Toxicology Board of Scientific Advisors and the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board. He was chair of the USEPA Board of Scientific Counselor Evaluation of the USEPA Human Health Research Program He is also board certified in toxicology and serves on the board of directors of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.
Dr. Klaunig received his doctorate in experimental pathology and toxicology from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed postdoctoral studies in chemical carcinogenesis at the Medical College of Ohio and the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology in North Carolina. Dr. Klaunig directed the Indiana Department of Toxicology from 1996 to 2003.
Patrick J. Loehrer, MD
Dr. Loehrer serves as deputy director of the IU Simon Cancer Center. His major responsibilities include oversight of the IU Simon Cancer Center clinical programs and other cancer programs of Clarian Health. Dr. Loehrer also serves as medical director of the new patient care facility of the IU Simon Cancer Center scheduled for completion in 2008.
An internationally known medical oncologist, Dr. Loehrer has focused on clinical trials in testis cancer and, more recently, gastrointestinal cancer and thymoma. He has published moreh than 190 scientific publications, which include seminal papers in testis cancer, bladder cancer, and thymoma.
Dr. Loehrer is the Bruce Kenneth Wiseman Professor of Medicine and serves as the director of the Division of Hematology-Oncology for the Department of Medicine. Prior to his appointment as deputy director, Dr. Loehrer served as associate director for clinical research of the IU Simon Cancer Center. He is founder and former chair of the Hoosier Oncology Group, a collaboration of academic and community oncologists that have united for the purpose of conducting clinical trials. He is principal investigator at Indiana University for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, one of the first and largest cooperative groups of researchers and health professionals focused on conducting multi-center cancer clinical trials. Nationally, he currently serves on the board of directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is the chair of the Medical Oncology Subcommittee. He has served previously as an elected member of the board of directors of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Dr. Loehrer earned his medical degree from Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1978. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center prior to completing his medical oncology fellowship at Indiana University Medical Center.
Kathy Miller, MD
Dr. Miller serves as associate director of clinical research for the IU Simon Cancer Center. In this role, Miller primarily assists with the oversight of clinical research activities of the IU Simon Cancer Center.
As associate director for clinical research, Miller chairs the Clinical Research Committee, which has ultimate responsibility for the conduct of clinical research, including ensuring scientific merit and adequate data and safety monitoring. Her clinical science oversight responsibilities also include evaluating new research opportunities and recommending potential areas for recruitment. In addition, she oversees the clinically-oriented shared facilities of Biostatistics and Data Management and the Clinical Research Office.
Miller is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Her primary research interest is testing therapies for breast cancer patients through clinical trials. Miller discovered a dramatic benefit of giving women with recurrent breast cancer a drug that inhibits the development of tumor-sustaining blood vessels. Her research findings suggest that adding a new drug to the standard chemotherapy treatment nearly doubled the time it took for cancer to grow in women whose breast cancer had returned or spread to other parts of the body, compared with women who received standard treatment alone.
Miller has research funding from the National Cancer Institute, the Komen Cancer Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation as well as numerous funded clinical trials.
Miller earned her medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed both her internship and residency at Johns Hopkins and her fellowship at the IU School of Medicine.
G. Marie Swanson, PhD
G. Marie Swanson is associate director for cancer prevention and control research at the IU Simon Cancer Center and professor and associate chair of the Indiana University School of Medicine's Department of Public Health.
As the associate director for cancer prevention and control research, she provides oversight and evaluation of the cancer control activities of all IUSCC research programs, evaluates new research opportunities, serves as an IUSCC mentor for young investigators, and integrates the research activities of the IUSCC and the IU Department of Public Health to guide potential cancer research activities.
Swanson also collaborates with the Indiana Department of Health, and she works closely with the Indiana Minority Health Coalition to develop relationships with Hispanic and other minority communities around Indianapolis and across the state.
Swanson most recently was the founding dean of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona.
During her career, Swanson has held many local, regional, and national positions, including leadership in the American Cancer Society and membership on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Center parent committee.
Known for her research in cancer epidemiology, Swanson was one of the first U.S. investigators to identify the high risk of both incidence and mortality among young African American women.
Swanson earned a master's degree and a doctorate in sociology from Wayne State University and a master's of public health in epidemiology from The Johns Hopkins University.