Pittsburgh, August 17, 2000 -- When a brain tumor diagnosis is made, the news is alarming to patients and families. Brain tumors are rightly feared because they infiltrate critical tissue quickly and produce frightening symptoms. Moreover, they can resist a multitude of treatments. Both the disease and the therapies for it can compromise brain function, either temporarily or permanently. And the statistics on brain tumors are sobering: more than 200,000 Americans develop these diseases each year, and the vast majority die.

To treat them aggressively, these serious tumors require major initiatives. The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) has just recruited Clifford Schold, MD, to orchestrate such an enterprise. In his role as director of UPCI's Neuro-oncology Program, Dr. Schold will coordinate new and ongoing efforts in neuro-oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, neuropathology, neuro-imaging, radiation oncology and translational research with the ultimate goal of reducing death and disability from brain tumors.

"The program at UPCI brings together a unique group of clinical investigators and basic scientists working with a common goal," stated Dr. Schold, who also will co-direct the UPCI's Brain Tumor Center and hold appointments of professor in the division of hematology/oncology, department of medicine, and in the department of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "I'm certain that, in a short time, UPCI will expand upon its management of these cancers to become a national leader."

Already, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has achieved worldwide recognition for its work in gamma knife surgery and for clinical protocols to treat aggressive brain cancers. New interdisciplinary therapies will incorporate expertise in basic research, gene therapy, medical oncology, stereotactic radiosurgery, positron emission tomography (PET), microsurgery and cranial base surgery. These services and others, including behavioral medicine consults, support groups and educational resources and services, are provided to patients through UPCI's continuum of care approach.

"Cliff Schold is unquestionably the best person for the job here at UPCI," added Ronald B. Herberman, M.D. "He is nationally renowned for his expertise and contributions to the treatment of brain tumors. His administrative skill and expertise in organizing and running clinical trials, as well as his extraordinary ability to rapidly translate new insights from laboratory studies to innovative strategies for brain tumor patients, is essential for UPCI -- and the UPMC Health System -- to more effectively deal with the serious business of diagnosing, treating and, ultimately, curing brain cancer."

Dr. Schold joins Ian Pollack, MD, as UPCI Brain Tumor Center co-director. "Dr. Pollack has a distinguished reputation for his surgical skill, his insights into the management of pediatric brain cancer and his focus on translating laboratory research to a clinical setting," said Dr. Schold. "He is highly esteemed by his colleagues nationally and throughout the western Pennsylvania community."

"With our increasing understanding of brain tumor biology, we are poised to develop and implement important new therapies that have a rational basis," Dr. Pollack said. "Many of these elegant therapies aim to treat brain cancer while protecting normal, sensitive brain tissue."

Among the treatments on the horizon is one combining gene therapy and gamma knife therapy. "Gene therapy offers a completely new biological precision that we expect to combine with the radiosurgical precision of the gamma knife," added L. Dade Lunsford, MD, Lars Leksell Professor and chairman of the department of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Lunsford also is chief of neurosurgery and co-director of UPMC Health System's Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery.

Dr. Schold comes to UPCI most recently from Duke University in North Carolina, where he was director for neurosciences at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. At Duke, Dr. Schold coordinated clinical research in all areas of neuroscience. Based on this experience, Dr. Schold is expected to assume additional clinical trials responsibilities over time in Pittsburgh.

Prior to his work at Duke University, Dr. Schold gained considerable administrative experience from 1992 to 1998 as professor and chairman of the department of neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. While there, he coordinated the conduct of several large-scale federally funded clinical studies, as well as the university's first gene therapy trial for glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. At Southwestern, he held the Dorothy Rogers Cullum Distinguished Chair in Neuro-oncology.

Dr. Schold received his medical degree in 1973 from the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona and his postdoctoral training in neurology at the University of Colorado Medical Center. He completed a neuro-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

For his work, Dr. Schold has received accolades from many fronts. As a champion of brain tumor research, he has been a spokesperson for the National Brain Tumor Foundation. In his academic career, he has authored or co-authored more than 100 refereed publications and served in an editorial capacity for numerous prestigious journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Stroke, the Journal of Neurosurgery and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He has had extensive grant support from the National Institutes of Health and other sponsors for both basic and clinical research. Dr. Schold is a member of the American Neurological Association's long-range planning committee and a member of the scientific issues committee of the American Academy of Neurology. He is the immediate past vice-president of the Society for Neuro-oncology.

Ranked 12th in NCI funding and the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in western Pennsylvania, UPCI is widely recognized as a leader in translating laboratory findings into applications of potential clinical importance and for its commitment to developing new and effective approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.

For more information about UPCI or treatments for brain tumors, please access http://www.upci.upmc.edu or call the UPCI's Cancer Information and Referral Service toll-free at 1-800-247-4724.