"Less is More: Studying Stem Cells to Improve Diagnosis and Therapy in Myeloid Malignancies"

Speaker:

Stephen Chung, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Division of Hematology & Oncology
UT Southwestern Medical Center

About Stephen Chung:

Originally from Highland Park, Illinois, Dr. Chung holds a bachelor's degree in biology and biochemistry from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He earned his medical degree at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston followed by a medical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at MSKCC, Dr. Chung’s work led to the identification of the hematopoietic stem cell as the cell of origin for hairy cell leukemia, as well as the identification of CD99 as a disease stem cell marker and therapeutic target in cancer treatments.

Dr. Chung’s laboratory research focuses on studying the molecular alterations in the hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells that underlie the development of AML and MDS. By studying these immature blood cells he aims to better understand what causes these diseases, as well as the mechanisms by which they sometimes become resistant to standard therapies. He is also interested in identifying novel alterations in cell surface protein expression in these diseases to identify new therapeutic targets and to develop new diagnostic tests. 

Dr. Chung's clinical interest is the care of patients with clonal hematopoiesis, the myelodysplastic syndromes, and acute myeloid leukemia.