It is with great pleasure that we welcome Vijayakrishna (V.K.) Gadi, MD, PhD as director of Medical Oncology, Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine. Dr. Gadi’s experience as an academic leader, clinical trialist, and esteemed member of the medical oncology community. He is an outstanding individual to lead these efforts.
Dr. Gadi has 30 years of laboratory experience in cancer research, as well as expertise in clinical care, clinical oncology, and translational breast cancer research. Over nearly two decades, he has amassed more than $10 million in research funding from government, philanthropic, and commercial organizations.
Prior to joining UIC, Dr. Gadi was an associate professor at the University of Washington, Division of Oncology. Dr. Gadi is a board certified medical oncologist with a specialty in breast cancer.
Dr. Gadi completed his MD and PhD degrees at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, internal medicine residency at the University of Washington, and oncology fellowship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
His research interests include breast and hematologic malignancies, immunogenetics and immunotherapy for solid tumors, and development of cell-based therapies for cancer. He is a pioneer in the use of patient-derived organoids for both drug target discovery and functional drug screening for patient care.
In addition to assuming the position of director of medical oncology, Dr. Gadi will be appointed associate director of translational medicine at the University of Illinois Cancer Center. Leveraging his experience as a clinical trialist, Dr. Gadi will develop a comprehensive clinical research portfolio in the medical treatment of patients with solid tumors. He will also foster collaborations to increase multidisciplinary clinical programs, clinical trials, research, and identify new strategies of growth in the oncology service line. He will work closely with Damiano Rondelli, MD, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, to foster new directions. His appointments are effective as of March 15, 2020.
We join the Cancer Center, the College of Medicine, UI Health, and the UIC community in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Gadi.
Best,
Patricia
Patricia W. Finn, MD
Earl M. Bane Professor
Head, Department of Medicine
Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives
College of Medicine
Associate Program Director, Medical Scientist Training Program
University of Illinois at Chicago