Hagop kantarjian biography of michael j

Hagop kantarjian biography of michael j: He came to MD Anderson in

He is associate vice president of Global Academic Programs and a non-resident fellow in health policy at the Rice University Baker Institute. Born in Beirut in during years of peace and prosperity, Kantarjian was profoundly influenced by Lebanon's challenging civil war years and like many of his former classmates at AUB in the s and s, he decided to immerse himself in work and dedicate his life to helping others.

Personal qualities of resilience, perseverance, and patience, combined with an aptitude for deep concentration and the ability to creatively and consistently experiment rewarded Kantarjian, the researcher, with positive outcomes for his work on cancer treatments. Kantarjian understands that relaxation is a key component of creativity and he finds his creative passion in painting, particularly landscapes in the fauvist style.

This, and jogging through Houston's beautiful parks, help free his mind and refresh his thinking. Kantarjian has markedly advanced the field of hematologic cancers and revolutionized the treatment of many types of leukemia, particularly in the areas of chronic myelogenous leukemia CML and acute lymphocytic leukemia ALL.

He spent decades developing new research protocols that transformed CML from a death sentence to a chronic ailment with close to normal long-term survival rates. Kantarjian helped create the hyper-cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone hyper-CVAD regimen and its derivatives incorporating tyrosine kinase inhibitors and antibodies for treating ALL in adults.

These increased the cure rates in adult ALL from percent up to percent. He found lifesaving uses for drugs that had been abandoned, including important medications such as clofarabine Clolar and decitabine Dacogen. He pioneered the use of epigenetic therapy in leukemia. As a physician who cares about the continued wellbeing of his patients, Kantarjian is a strong advocate for affordable cancer drugs and has helped lead a multi-year campaign to lower the cost of cancer drugs.