Molecular subtypes in paediatric and adult sarcomas, including CIC-DUX4, NTRK gene fusions and SDH-deficient GIST

Dr George D. Demetri is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology in the Department of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr Demetri received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard College and medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in 1983, then went on to Internal Medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Washington Hospitals in Seattle. He then completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, where he has served as an Attending Physician since 1989. He is also an affiliate investigator with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Dr Demetri’s research and clinical interests have focused on the translation of scientific discoveries into targeted drugs for the management of sarcomas as a model for solid tumor research and development. This work has led to the development of the oral drug Gleevec as an effective treatment for the gastrointestinal sarcoma known as GIST, and is continuing with the research leading to the new multi-targeted agent SU11248 for GIST resistant to Gleevec. A fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr Demetri is a member of many professional societies and editorial boards of scientific journals. He is a member the Board of Directors of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society and a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Sarcoma Foundation of America. He has been instrumental in raising awareness of issues relating to drug development and sarcoma research by his activities on the Internet, and he founded a non-profit educational site for sarcoma patients and their families.