Roger Stupp, a Swiss neuro-oncologist, was named associate director for strategic initiatives at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
An expert in the treatment of primary and metastatic brain cancer, Stupp will join Northwestern Medicine in April as a professor of neurological surgery. He will work at the Division of Neuro-Oncology in the Department of Neurology and Lurie Cancer Center’s Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute.
In 2005, Stupp led clinical research demonstrating that chemotherapy with the drug temozolomide in conjunction with radiotherapy increases survival for patients with glioblastoma. Later, Stupp and colleagues showed that electromagnetic waves called tumor treating fields can substantially improve outcomes for patients suffering from glioblastoma. These breakthrough discoveries led to the last two FDA-approved treatments for the disease.
“The ‘Stupp Protocol’ is a standard of care for patients with malignant glioma around the world,” said Maciej (Matt) Lesniak, chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery. “Northwestern is fortunate to have recruited an international leader in the field who will champion the development of new therapies for patients with brain cancer.”
Stupp went on to discover a predictor of response to his chemotherapy-radiation treatment: Patients who carry an inactivated MGMT gene respond better to the combination therapy. Stupp’s ongoing research touches not only primary and secondary brain tumors, but also head and neck tumors and lung cancers.
Stupp serves as president of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and section editor of the European Journal of Cancer. His honors and awards include the European Society for Medical Oncology’s Hamilton Fairley Award and the Society for NeuroOncology’s Victor Levin Award.
