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Steven Grossman named cancer physician in chief of USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

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Steven Grossman named cancer physician in chief of USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

August 4, 2020

By Alison Rainey

Keck Medicine of USC has named renowned oncologist and cancer researcher Steven Grossman, MD, PhD, as USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center’s cancer physician in chief. He will step into the role on Sept. 15.  

In this inaugural position, Grossman will provide executive leadership for oncology services, partnering with academic and clinical leaders to advance new models of multidisciplinary care delivery. He will also serve as a professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Photo/Courtesy of Steven Grossman

Grossman, an internationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal cancers, is a past recipient of a Research Scholar award from the American Cancer Society, the Kimmel Scholar award from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation and a Howard Temin Award from the National Cancer Institute. 

He previously served as the deputy director and Dianne Nunnally Hoppes Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, as well as the chair of the division of hematology, oncology and palliative care.  

“We are thrilled that Dr. Grossman will join us,” said Caryn Lerman, PhD, director of USC Norris and associate dean for cancer programs at the Keck School. “His exceptional experience and track record as a clinical and scientific leader will enable us to accelerate our mission of delivering the most innovative, evidence-based care to our diverse patient population.”

Grossman received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the Harvard Medical School-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital and completed a fellowship in medical oncology and postdoctoral research training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  

“I am truly honored to join USC Norris in this newly created position,” Grossman said. “I am excited to expand USC Norris’ exceptional patient-focused clinical cancer services that provide multidisciplinary care and integrate cutting-edge clinical research at every level of the patient experience.”

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Lerman named president-elect of the Association of American Cancer Institutes

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Lerman named president-elect of the Association of American Cancer Institutes

June 29, 2020

Caryn Lerman, PhD, director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected vice president/president-elect of the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the organization announced Monday.   

Lerman, who’s also a professor of Psychiatry & the Behavioral Sciences, the H. Leslie Hoffman and Elaine S. Hoffman Chair in Cancer Research, and associate dean for cancer programs, begins her two-year term on June 1, 2021.

Prior to taking over at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center on March 15, Lerman served as associate dean for cancer programs at Keck School of Medicine of USC. She also was senior deputy director of the Abramson Cancer Center and vice dean for strategic initiatives in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is recognized for her cancer prevention research that bridges the fields of neuroscience, genomics, pharmacology, and population science.

Lerman joined AACI’s board of directors in 2019. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and has served as a member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Board of Scientific Advisors, the National Human Genome Research Advisory Council, and the National Institutes on Drug Abuse Advisory Council.

The AACI also announced that Cornelia Ulrich, MS, PhD, and Robert Winn, MD, have been elected as new board members, and Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH, has been appointed to fill the remainder of Dr. Lerman’s term as a regular board member. Drs. Ulrich and Winn will replace outgoing board members Gerold Bepler, MD, PhD, and Timothy L. Ratliff, PhD.

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G. Denman Hammond, MD, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics 1923 – 2020

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G. Denman Hammond, MD, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics 1923 - 2020

It is with sadness that we note the recent passing of Dr. G. Denman Hammond, at the age of 97.   

Dr. Hammond had a distinguished career as a faculty for the University of Southern California, was highly influential in the establishment of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and served as its Founding Director. He first joined the faculty at the School of Medicine in 1957 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1960, and then professor in 1965. His research focused on childhood leukemia and other pediatric malignancies.

From 1960 to 1971, he served as Head of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at Children’ s Hospital, Los Angeles. From 1971 to 1985 he served as an Associate Dean in the School, and in 1971 also became the Founding Director of the USC-Norris Cancer Center and later Research Institute.  Dr. Hammond directed the final phases of the Cancer Center’ s planning and construction, and coordinated the efforts of USC’ s basic and clinical cancer investigators in developing the Center’ s research and care programs.  At the time he was quoted as saying “The essence of a cancer research institute is the intermix of physicians trained to provide very sophisticated diagnosis and care, who can translate basic research findings into better prevention,  detection, or treatment methods. It may take several generations before better information, passed on to the public, can help prevent the many deaths from cancer that occur each year.”   

Donald Feinstein, MD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, adds that, in fact, “Without Dr. Hammond, there may never have been a USC Norris Cancer Center, and the founding grant money for the Norris would have gone to Harvard.” (See the links below for more on the real story behind the founding of the Norris.)

During this same period of time (1968–1992), he served as Group Chairman of the Children’ s Cancer Group. Dr. Hammond was a member of a number of prestigious local, national, and even international professional societies and held important leadership positions in a number of these.  Further, he served on editorial boards of cancer journals and NIH study sections, held important leadership positions in the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute, and chaired several NIH panels, most notably  as the Presidential appointee to the National Cancer Advisor Board of the NCI as Chairman of the Committee on Cancer Centers from 1975–78 and Chairman of the Committee on Construction from 1979–80.  Dr. Denman Hammond retired from the Keck School of Medicine on June 30, 2006, and has served as an Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics.  

For more information on the history of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Hammond was interviewed in July 2007 by Keck School Dean Emeritus, Allen Mathies, as part of the USC Living History Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTquxdK1jJo .  Dr. Hammond’s contribution to the cancer center was detailed in in the USC Living History Project interview with Gordon Cohn, the first public relations director for the cancer center, in minutes 34 through 43 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb8Zag1btbg .

To make a gift in honor of Dr. Hammond, click HERE.