Research

Research Programs

Developmental Therapeutics

Program Members | Research Highlights | Contacts

The Developmental Therapeutics Research Program was established in 1974 as the first research program at Yale Cancer Center. It represents the foundation and cornerstone of the clinical translational research efforts at Yale Cancer Center.

Developmental Therapeutics has an extraordinary history at Yale, which began with the first administration of a cytotoxic agent to a cancer patient, namely nitrogen mustard, in 1942. The field of cancer pharmacology and cancer drug development has its roots in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale dating back to the 1950s and 1960s.

A close interaction between basic researchers and clinical investigators is essential to the translation of discoveries coming from the fundamental basic laboratories into the clinical setting. Translational research must also bring clinical observations back to the basic laboratories for further refinement in clinical treatments. Yale Cancer Center is home to some of the world’s leading investigators and scientists whose breakthroughs in cancer biology, pharmacology, and drug development show great promise in the treatment of a wide range of human cancers. 

The major focus of the Developmental Therapeutics Program is in the area of chemotherapy for cancer and viruses associated with cancer.  Our research efforts are focused on the following major areas of investigation: (1) target identification, validation, and characterization; (2) characterization of the mechanisms of chemosensitivity and cellular drug resistance; (3) drug discovery/development; and (4) clinical trial design and development.

In addition to identifying critical regulatory pathways that are involved in cancer cell growth and proliferation and understanding the determinants of chemosensitivity and cellular mechanism of drug resistance, we have expanded our research efforts in the area of drug design and development. Approaches being taken include synthesis of small organic molecules based on traditional, rational drug design using structure-function analysis; drug design based on molecular modeling and structural features of certain critical targets; as well as drug design based on combinatorial nucleic acid, peptide, and chemistry methodologies.

We have incorporated phase I/II, early-stage clinical translation studies into Developmental Therapeutics. This has been made possible by the recent recruitment of several leading clinical investigators into the Section of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center. The mission of these clinical investigators is to interact closely with the basic scientists of our Program and other Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center Research Programs, to translate the most exciting pre-clinical agents/molecules and treatment strategies, and to design/develop innovative investigator-initiated phase I/II clinical trials.

A strong interdisciplinary team approach is required in order to achieve the research objectives outlined above. Thus, our Program is comprised of basic research scientists, translational researchers, and clinical investigators actively involved in both basic and clinical research with particular expertise in various aspects of developmental therapeutics and drug development. These include the fields of molecular and cellular biology, molecular genetics, biochemical and molecular pharmacology, synthetic chemistry, biomedical engineering, structural biology and molecular modeling, clinical pharmacology, diagnostic imaging, pathology, and clinical investigations.

Program Members
Edward Chu, MD, Program Director; Deputy Director, Yale Cancer Center; Professor of   Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Yung-Chi Cheng, PhD, Program Co-Director; Henry Bronson Professor of Pharmacology

Maysa Abu-Khalaf, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Karen Anderson, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology

Joachim Baehring, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery

G. Peter Beardsley, MD, PhD. Professor of Pediatrics and Pharmacology

Iona Black, PhD, Lecturer in Chemistry

Ronald Breaker, PhD, Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular, Cellular
and Developmental Biology

Charles Cha, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery

Gina Chung, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Craig Crews, PhD, Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology,
and Chemistry and Pharmacology

Hari Deshpande, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Scott Gettinger, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Ya Ha, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Andrew Hamilton, PhD, Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry;
Provost of Yale University

Lyndsay Harris, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Michael Hodsdon, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pharmacology

Zhiwei Hu, PhD, Research Scientist, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences

William Kevin Kelly, DO, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

James Lee, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Elias Lolis, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology

Gil Mor, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive   Sciences

Giuseppe Pizzorno, PhD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology),   Pediatrics, and Pharmacology

Michal Rose, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Thomas Rutherford, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology &   Reproductive Sciences

Wasif Saif, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

Mark Saltzman, PhD, Goizueta Foundation Professor and Chairman of Biomedical Engineering

Alan Sartorelli, PhD, Alfred Gilman Professor of Pharmacology

Clarence Sasaki, MD, Charles W. Ohse Professor of Surgery

William Sessa, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology

Mario Sznol, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology)

John Wood, PhD, Professor of Chemistry

Program Highlights
The core strength and unique aspect of the Developmental Therapeutics Program is the strong emphasis on translation of scientific discoveries from the lab to the clinic. In the past five to seven years, our investigators have developed more than 30 novel molecules, greater than 20 of which have been licensed to the pharmaceutical industry, and eight of which are undergoing clinical testing.  Plans are underway to test at least three new molecules in our clinics at Yale, all of which were developed by our Program members, including novel peptidomimetic compounds from Dr. Hamilton’s lab. Presently, there is no other NCI-designated cancer center that offers as many novel drugs and therapies as Yale Cancer Center.

Contacts
Yung-Chi Cheng, PhD, Program Co-Director
(203) 785-7118
ycccheng@yale.edu

Edward Chu, MD, Program Co-Director
(203) 785-6879
chueyale@yahoo.com