New Endowed Professorship in Cancer Pathobiology:

   The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Ralph Sanderson as the inaugural Endowed Professor in Cancer Pathobiology.

   Understanding the role that the tumor microenvironment plays in the regulation of tumor growth and progression has become a major focus of cancer research.  Dr. Sanderson’s laboratory has shown that heparan sulfate proteoglycans promote tumor growth and metastasis of multiple myeloma and breast cancer, two tumors with a propensity to metastasize and grow within bone.   The long-term goal of the Sanderson laboratory is to determine how tumor-stromal interactions mediated by heparan sulfate and heparanase regulate the tumor microenvironment  and to use this knowledge to design new cancer therapies.  The foundation of this Endowed Professorship in Cancer Pathobiology is in recognition of the importance of basic cancer pathobiology research and supports leadership in this area in the Department of Pathology and UAB.

   Dr. Sanderson is a Professor of Pathology in the UAB Department of Pathology and Senior Scientist and Co-Leader of the Cancer Cell Biology Program at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.  He is an internationally recognized leader in tumor microenvironment and myeloma research and received the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2003 at the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Molecular and Cellular Pathology Graduate Program in 2008, and the Neufeld Memorial Research Award (jointly with his collaborator, Dr. Michael Vlodarsky) in 2010.  He held the Drs. Mae and Anderson Nettleship Endowed Chair in Oncologic Pathology at the University of Arkansas prior to his recruitment to UAB in 2006.  In addition to his many scientific accomplishments, Dr. Sanderson is a dedicated teacher and institutional leader in graduate education.  We look forward to his many future successes at UAB.