PHILADELPHIA (May 23, 2018) – Mariusz A. Wasik, MD, has been appointed Chair of the Department of Pathology at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Jeanes Hospital. He will also serve as Associate Director of the Cancer Center. In his new position Wasik, a highly skilled academic physician-scientist, will emphasize translation of laboratory discoveries and technologies into tests offered to Fox Chase patients.
“Ongoing recruitment of talented faculty members who bring strong leadership and innovation to our center is a key element of our institutional vision,” said Richard I. Fisher, president and CEO of Fox Chase Cancer Center. “Mariusz Wasik is an international leader in molecular hematopathology and translational research who will invigorate our Department of Pathology and enhance the Cancer Center’s diagnostic and clinical science portfolio.”
As chair of pathology and a key member of the Center’s leadership team, Wasik’s responsibilities will include playing a prominent role in supporting Temple University Health System’s cancer service line, faculty recruitment and retention, and strengthening the portfolio of molecular diagnostics and genomic testing within Fox Chase. He will also focus on developing a comprehensive genomic evaluation of patients’ cancers with an ultimate goal of identifying therapeutic targets.
Wasik joins Fox Chase from the University of Pennsylvania, where he achieved the rank of Professor and served in various positions in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, including director of experimental hematology, director of the Hematopathology Fellowship Training Program, and director of hematopathology. Most recently he was the principal investigator and scientific leader of the Translational Center of Excellence for Lymphoma at Abramson Cancer Center.
His research focuses primarily on aberrant cell signaling, the underlying genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in lymphomas, the development of new diagnostic and monitoring tools, and the identification of novel treatment approaches based on the unique biology of malignant cells. He will continue scholarly activities of this kind at Fox Chase.
A magna cum laude graduate of Wroclaw Medical University in his native Poland, Wasik completed a residency in anatomic pathology at the Mallory Institute of Pathology in Boston. In addition, he completed fellowships in basic immunology, tumor immunology, and hematopathology at Harvard Medical School/Boston University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Hospital, respectively.
Wasik is a member of the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society for Investigative Pathology, International Society for Cutaneous Lymphomas, and Society for Hematopathology. He frequently serves as a member and chair of various grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health and other funding organizations. He is an editorial board member for Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis and theJournal of Clinical Pharmacology, and serves as a reviewer for a number of peer-reviewed medical journals, including The American Journal of Pathology, Blood, Nature Medicine, Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Oncogene, Lancet Oncology, and Science.
He is a prolific author, with more than 180 peer-reviewed research publications, a frequent lecturer, serves as principal investigator on multiple grants, and holds several patents stemming from his experimental work.
Wasik will join the faculty at Fox Chase on July 2.