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Under the direction of Peter J. O'Dwyer, M.D., the developmental therapeutics program works to identify and test the effectiveness of new drugs in preventing or treating cancer. Through clinical trials, the team has demonstrated that a natural product, called combretastatin A4 phosphate, shuts off the blood supply to tumors at a dosage that patients can tolerate. The team is currently developing new platinum-derived drugs for use as chemotherapy and studying the issue of platinum resistance in clinical, pharmacokinetic, and basic research studies. They are using the same approach to assess the potential of other new drugs in treating cancer.
O'Dwyer's team is also involved in clinical studies that are assessing the value of novel drugs in preventing cancer. The group has studied several agents in preclinical models and has furthered our understanding of how colon cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy. Because genetic factors need to be considered when selecting doses for patients, O'Dwyer and his team have also performed studies that focus on genetically determined responses to drugs.
Background
Peter O'Dwyer received his medical degree at the University of Dublin, Trinity College. After his internship, he spent a year of internal medicine residency at the Hammersmith Hospital in London, followed by pediatric and internal medicine residencies in Connecticut and Maryland. After a fellowship at the Baltimore Cancer Research Center, he became a Senior Investigator in the Division of Cancer Treatment at the National Cancer Institute, where he received training in biochemical pharmacology in the laboratory of Richard Cysyk. At the National Cancer Institute, Dr. O'Dwyer organized a group to study mechanisms of resistance in the clinic, and strategies to overcome it. He then joined Fox Chase Cancer Center. Before moving to the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. O'Dwyer was Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University. He is board certified in internal medicine, pediatrics, and medical oncology. |
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