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Nevada Cancer Institute Announces Appointment of Faculty, Manager of Imaging and Radiology, and Director of Grants and Contracts

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 July 2005, 18:01 CDT

LAS VEGAS, July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Four key appointments have been added to the leadership of the Nevada Cancer Institute, Nevada's official research-linked cancer institute with a mission of prevention, detection and care of cancer patients across the Silver state, according to Heather Murren, president and CEO, and Nicholas Vogelzang, M.D., director.

Nam Hoang Dang, M.D., Ph.D. -- Chief of Hematological Malignancies

Nam Hoang Dang, M.D., Ph.D. has been appointed chief of Hematological Malignancies for the Nevada Cancer Institute. He is focused on developing novel therapies that derive from in-depth knowledge of basic biological processes, particularly those involving apoptosis, immune activation, cellular signal transduction, and cell cycleregulation. He is particularly interested in designing novel therapies that take knowledge from the lab bench to the bedside for hematologic malignancies, which include lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma.

Originally from Vietnam, Dang came to the United States as a refugee with his family at the age of 12 years. After spending time in refugee camps off the coast of California, his family moved to Dallas, Texas. Instilled with a passion for learning from his parents, Dang began to learn English by listening to sports radio talk shows in Dallas. He graduated as valedictorian from high school and went to Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, where he graduated with top honors, earning his Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude), Medical Degree (magna cum laude), and a Ph.D. Dang continued his medical education in the Harvard system with residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and fellowship training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. Among the several prestigious awards and honors he has garnered include the National Arthritis Foundation Medical Student Award, the Friends Fellowship of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the V Foundation Scholar Award, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for Physicians, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center Physician-Scientist Award.

Yupo Ma, MD, MS, Ph.D. -- Chief of Hematology

Yupo Ma, MD, MS, Ph.D. is Chief of Hematology. He joined NVCI from the University of Arkansas Medical School where he was director of Flow Cytometry, Hematopathologist and assistant professor in the Department of Pathology.

Ma earned his Medical Degree from Jinan University (P.R. China), College of Medicine and a Ph.D. from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. He was a resident in Pathology at Brown University, a clinical fellow of Hematopathology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and has conducted Post Doctoral training in Pathology at Harvard Medical School. He is certified by the American Board of Pathology.

Ma's research interests include targeting approaches to study human homeotic gene function in human development and human cancer. His research is funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant.

Donald A. Hessel -- Manager of Imaging and Radiology

Donald A. Hessel was named manager of Imaging Services and is responsible for managing NVCI's radiological services, including CT, MRI, mammography, general radiology, ultrasound and the nuclear medicine services of nuclear scanning and PET-CT. Hessel has been a member of the Las Vegas clinical community for 30 years. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in business and business management at UNLV, and a degree in radiology at Loma Linda University.

Hessel brings a strong entrepreneurial spirit combined with a passion for radiology, education, and research allowing for the significant contribution to the lives of patients, and the overall improvement of health care in the Las Vegas Valley and throughout Nevada.

Laura Bennett -- Director of Grants and Contracts

Laura G. Bennett has been named director of Grants and Contracts. As a research-linked cancer institution, NVCI undertakes research programs that are specifically tailored to a patient's illness. Bennett is responsible for the management and compliance of grants, as well as submission of project renewals, and fiduciary oversight for audits of the sponsored programs.

Bennett was the director of Sponsored Programs and Research at Southeast Missouri State University at Cape Girardeau and served as the Clinical director and assistant administrator at Delta Center, a behavioral health practice in Cairo, Illinois. She also has more than 15 years of not-for-profit experience as well as serving on Boards of Directors of non-profit organizations and providing pro bono assistance to non-profit organizations in the area of budgeting, leadership and grant writing. She has also taught grant-writing.

Bennett earned a Bachelors Degree at Murray State University, Kentucky and a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Administration and Services at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois. In addition she has done extensive post-graduate work in Higher Education and Administration with a particular interest in Culture and Gendered Leadership.

About Nevada Cancer Institute

The Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI) is the official cancer institute for the State of Nevada. NVCI's mission is to develop a comprehensive cancer research institute staffed by the finest scientists, clinicians and caregivers, to provide hope for the community through education, support and patient-centered care and striving for a future without cancer through innovative translational research in basic, clinical and population science. NVCI has raised more than $55 million in private community financial support, with additional support of a repayable $50 million construction bond for NVCI's 142,000 square foot flagship research and care facility in the Summerlin district of Las Vegas. The facility is scheduled to open later this summer. For more information on NVCI, please visit http://www.nevadacancerinstitute.org/.

Nevada Cancer Institute

CONTACT: Clark P. Dumont, APR of Nevada Cancer Institute,+1-702-821-0043, cdumont@nvcancer.org

Web site: http://www.nevadacancerinstitute.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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