Cy Stein, M.D., Ph.D., has been named as the Arthur and Rosalie Kaplan Chair and Professor of the Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research at City of Hope. Stein, who joined City of Hope in March, is a renowned physician and researcher in genitourinary cancers.

“I am thankful for the Kaplans’ continued commitment to the medical oncology program and am honored to hold this position,” said Stein. “City of Hope has a wonderful staff and a robust culture dedicated to scientific collaboration and delivering leading-edge patient care; I will build upon those strengths to develop and improve treatments for our patients.”

Cy Stein (Photo by p.cunningham)

Stein is a recognized leader and innovator in nucleic acid therapies, which alter gene expression with the goal of destroying cancerous cells. He has studied this field for more than 25 years, resulting in numerous patents in experimental therapeutics. Additionally, he is the co-editor-in-chief of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics and has served on the editorial advisory boards of Cancer Gene Therapy and Clinical Cancer Research, among other journals.

“While nucleic acid therapies show promise to treat a wide range of cancers, there is the obstacle of delivering the therapy directly to the tumor cells,” Stein said. “My colleagues at City of Hope are already doing innovative work in understanding delivery mechanisms, so I look forward to working with them to develop this potential treatment.”

Stein also aims to expand collaboration between City of Hope clinicians and scientists to accelerate translational research that brings new treatments from the laboratory to the clinic.

“Currently, there are too few drugs on the market to treat cancer. But by fostering these partnerships and conducting more studies, not only will we have more weapons against cancer, but we also will learn how to use them more effectively,” Stein said.

Prior to City of Hope, Stein was at the Albert Einstein Cancer Center in the Bronx, N.Y., where he served as director of its medical genitourinary oncology program and professor of medicine and molecular pharmacology.

Stein completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. He received his M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y., and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford University.