City of Hope Appoints Marcel van den Brink, MD, PhD, As President of City of Hope Los Angeles and National Medical Center, and Chief Physician Executive

Author(s):

City of Hope announced the appointment of Marcel van den Brink, MD, PhD, as president of City of Hope Los Angeles and National Medical Center, chief physician executive and the Deana and Steve Campbell Chief Physician Executive Distinguished Chair in honor of Alexandra Levine, MD.

Marcel van den Brink, MD, PhD

City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, today announced the appointment of Marcel van den Brink, MD, PhD, as president of City of Hope Los Angeles and National Medical Center, chief physician executive and the Deana and Steve Campbell Chief Physician Executive Distinguished Chair in honor of Alexandra Levine, MD.

A global leader in the basic and translational science of bone marrow transplantation (BMT), microbiome and cancer immunotherapy, van den Brink will join City of Hope in October and will oversee City of Hope’s Duarte campus and the Greater Los Angeles regional sites. He will also be responsible for ensuring that the most leading-edge patient care is available across the City of Hope system.

Van den Brink joins City of Hope after serving 24 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, most recently as the head of its Division of Hematologic Malignancies.

A globally renowned leader in oncology and immunology, van den Brink led innovative research and collaboration in support of patient care with a focus on converting scientific discoveries in his laboratory related to BMT, the intestinal microbiome and immune reconstitution into better therapies for patients. He has received numerous national and international awards for his work and is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

“Dr. van den Brink’s extensive clinical and scientific leadership will be a tremendous benefit as we continue to transform as an organization and create even more positive impact for patients everywhere,” said Robert Stone, City of Hope’s CEO and Helen and Morgan Chu Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair. “Throughout his career, Dr. van den Brink has maintained an intense focus on converting scientific discoveries into safer and more effective therapies for patients. With this addition to City of Hope’s leadership team, our patients and our 110-year-old institution are in very good hands.”

Dr. van den Brink has had many other leadership roles, including vice-chairman of the board of the Deutsche Knochenmark Stiftung (DKMS). DKMS is a global organization devoted to blood stem cell donor registration and enables 40% of all unrelated blood stem cell donations worldwide. His expertise in the field of BMT will bolster City of Hope’s leading hematology program. As one of the highest volume transplant centers in the nation and the largest in California, City of Hope has performed more than 18,000 transplants since it became one of the first cancer centers in the U.S. to offer the therapy in 1976.

“It is a tremendous honor to join City of Hope and contribute to its mission to bring leading-edge cancer care to as many patients as possible through excellence in clinical care, education, outreach and research,” said van den Brink.

Current City of Hope National Medical Center President Michael Caligiuri, MD, will remain at City of Hope and transition to focus full time on his laboratory research. A globally renowned leader in immunology and blood cancers, Caligiuri has dedicated himself to developing the next generation of cancer therapies and rapidly delivering them to patients. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine's Class of 2018 for his breakthrough discoveries in natural killer cell research and is also a past president and fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research.