Endocrinologist Bickel to hold Foster Distinguished Chair

Dr. Perry Bickel, Chief of Endocrinology in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern, has been named holder of the Daniel W. Foster, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine.

Dr. Bickel, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, graduated from UT Southwestern Medical School in 1988 and was recruited back to the Medical Center in 2012 from the UT Health Science Center in Houston.

Dr. Bickel’s clinical research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of fat storage. When he joined the UT Southwestern faculty, he said, “What attracts a lot of people to endocrinology is the logic of the endocrine system, the feedback loops, and concept of homeostasis. In practicing endocrinology at academic institutions, we see many patients who defy that logic and motivate us to go back to the lab to better understand the molecular causes of their endocrine disorders. That’s the challenge and the excitement of what we do in the Division.”

Dr. Bickel, a native of Houston, graduated from Yale University with degrees in philosophy and classical civilization. An undergraduate class in reproductive biology, however, convinced him to go to medical school instead of law school. Dr. Bickel completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Biochemist receives Suffness Award

Dr. John MacMillan, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, has received the Matt Suffness Award from the American Society of Pharmacognosy.

The award, given in the field of natural products sciences, recognizes the contributions of younger scientists and provides a forum for them to present results from their natural products research at annual ASP meetings. The award also recognizes and honors the memory of Dr. Suffness, who served as the society’s President (1989-1990) while also working and eventually leading the National Cancer Institute’s Natural Products Branch in the Developmental Therapeutics Program.

Dr. MacMillan, a Chilton/Bell Scholar in Biochemistry, earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California-Davis after graduating from the University of Iowa. He did postdoctoral training at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC-San Diego. 

Minna honored as Giant of Cancer Care by OncLive

The OncLive oncology resource network has named Dr. John Minna, Professor of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology, as a Giant of Cancer Care.

Dr. Minna, who holds the Max L. Thomas Distinguished Chair in Molecular Pulmonary Oncology, and the Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research, serves as Director of the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, the W.A. “Tex” and Deborah Moncrief Jr. Center for Cancer Genetics, and Co-Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program for the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Giants of Cancer Care award recognizes 12 physicians nationwide for groundbreaking accomplishments in their field. Dr. Minna has been selected by his peers for his work in translational (“bench-to-bedside”) lung cancer research. Specifically, he focuses on the molecular development of lung cancer and works to translate this into creating personalized medicine for patients.

Since 1996, Dr. Minna has led a joint Lung Cancer NCI Special Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant between UT Southwestern and MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is currently collaborating with other scientists to find the “acquired vulnerabilities” in lung cancer and their predictive molecular signatures to develop treatments for lung cancer patients.

Dr. Minna also directs a NASA Special Program of Research Excellence on how high-energy particle radiation in space and low-dose gamma radiation on Earth affect lung cancer formation.

Dr. Minna received his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine and has been on faculty at UT Southwestern since 1991.

OncLive is the official website of the Oncology Specialty Group, an organization responsible for a number of cancer publications including Oncology & Biotech News, OncologyLive, and Contemporary Oncology. 

Towler named holder of Wilson Distinguished Chair

Dr. Dwight Towler, Professor of Internal Medicine, has been appointed to hold the J.D. and Maggie E. Wilson Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Towler, a board-certified internist and endocrinologist, earned his medical degree and doctorate in biochemistry from Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his medical residency and endocrine/metabolism fellowship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

Dr. Towler, who joined the faculty in 2015, has expertise in the endocrinology of bone and vascular disease. Before joining UT Southwestern, he was the Lang Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Lipid Research at Washington University and also served as Chief of the Bone and Mineral Diseases Division for a decade. From 2012 to 2014, he was Director of Cardiovascular Pathobiology at a nonprofit biomedical research institute.

Dr. Towler’s research has been recognized by the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation (1996), the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (Fuller Albright Award, 2000), and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (elected in 2004). He currently serves on the editorial boards of Circulation Research and Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

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