NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced today that Hearn Jay Cho, MD, PhD, will serve as the organization’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). As CMO, Dr. Cho will be an integral part of the MMRF Executive Leadership team and will be responsible for developing a clinical research strategy and accelerating drug development programs for the MMRF.
Dr. Cho will maintain his clinical responsibilities as Associate Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and Attending Physician with the Multiple Myeloma Service at the Mt. Sinai Tisch Cancer Institute. Additionally, he will continue to manage his laboratory at Mt. Sinai which is focused on developing novel therapies for multiple myeloma. At the MMRF, he will also lead the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), a group of 25 leading research centers dedicated to researching and advancing treatment options for multiple myeloma patients.
“The MMRF continues to drive our strategic plan forward to accelerate major breakthroughs for cancer patients,” said Paul Giusti, President and Chief Executive Officer of the MMRF. “Having a world-class leadership team is critical to executing our thoughtful, innovative, plan. We are excited to have Dr. Cho, with his talent, expertise and experience as a leading physician in the myeloma field, join the MMRF. Dr. Cho will contribute to the MMRF’s mission to find a cure for each and every multiple myeloma patient.”
The MMRF strategic plan is built on three pillars: accelerating standardization and precision in immuno-oncology, investing in and partnering with innovative biotech companies with promising myeloma therapies, and generating, aggregating and analyzing critical data to identify new targets and care pathways. Focusing the MMRF efforts in these three broad areas will transform how multiple myeloma is treated and ultimately cured. To learn more about the MMRF Strategic Plan visit: themmrf.org/we-are-curing-multiple-myeloma/strategic-plan-2019.
Dr. Cho joins the MMRF Executive Leadership Team of: Paul Giusti, President and CEO; Michael Andreini, Chief Operating Officer; Daniel Auclair, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer; Stephen Labkoff, MD, FACP, FACMI, Chief Data Officer; Rob Miani, Chief Financial Officer; Anne Quinn Young, MPH, Chief Marketing and Development Officer; and Peter Kosa, Managing Director of the Myeloma Investment Fund.
Kathy Giusti, MMRF Founder and Chief Mission Officer, will continue to set the vision for the organization, which includes oversight of the MMRF’s strategic plan, with a focus on developing partnerships across research, drug development, and health care delivery, to align incentives that drive precision medicine and cures for patients.
“It is a great honor and privilege to join the MMRF,” said Dr. Cho. “The MMRF has been instrumental in the FDA approval of new treatments that have revolutionized the care of multiple myeloma. We will keep the MMRF at the forefront of clinical and translational research, expanding our footprint in data and immunotherapy in our relentless pursuit of a cure for every patient.”
About the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF)
A pioneer in precision medicine, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) seeks to find a cure for all multiple myeloma patients by relentlessly pursuing innovations that accelerate the development of precision treatments for cancer. Founded in 1998 by Kathy Giusti, a multiple myeloma patient, and her twin sister Karen Andrews as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the MMRF has created the business model around cancer—from data to analytics to the clinic. The MMRF identifies barriers and then finds the solutions to overcome them, bringing in the best partners and aligning incentives in the industry to drive better outcomes for patients. Since its inception, the organization has collected thousands of samples and tissues, opened nearly 100 trials, helped bring 11 FDA-approved therapies to market, and built CoMMpass, the single largest genomic dataset for any cancer. Today, the MMRF is building on its legacy in genomics and is expanding into immune-oncology, as the combination of these two fields will be critical to making precision medicine possible for all patients. The MMRF has raised nearly $500 million and directs nearly 90% of the total funds to research and related programs. To learn more, visit www.themmrf.org.
About the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC)
The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) is a 509 (a) (3) non-profit organization that integrates leading academic institutions to accelerate drug development in multiple myeloma. It is led from the MMRC offices in Norwalk, Conn., and comprises 25 member institutions: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Beth Israel Deaconess, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mayo Clinic (Jacksonville, Rochester and Scottsdale), Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Dallas, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, City of Hope, Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, Levine Cancer Institute, The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, Ohio State University, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, University Health Network (Princess Margaret Hospital), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, UT Southwestern, Virginia Cancer Specialists and Washington University in St. Louis.
