John H. Glick, president of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at Penn Medicine, professor of medicine, and the Madlyn & Leonard Abramson Professor of Clinical Oncology, will retire at the end of the academic year and assume emeritus status.
Glick joined the Penn faculty in 1974 as the Ann B. Young Assistant Professor, after completing fellowships at NCI and Stanford.
Glick established the medical oncology program at Penn as a young physician, and has led the Abramson Cancer Center longer than any other director, from 1985 to 2006.
Glick’s clinical insight drove the development of integrated cancer clinical care at Penn Medicine, including the development of psychosocial and nutritional counseling services that led to establishment of the Patient Facilitated Services Program. He also established the Penn Medicine Academy of Master Clinicians to promote clinical excellence in all specialties across the health system.
As cancer center director, Glick made the Abramson Cancer Center a national model for a comprehensive center, drawing on resources and faculty from Penn and CHOP, according to Penn Medicine. The turning point came in 1997, with a transformative gift of $100 million from Leonard and Madlyn Abramson to establish the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute.
In the span of less than a decade, a total of 90 new faculty were jointly recruited to multiple departments and the cancer center with AFCRI support. In recognition of their impact, the cancer center was named the Abramson Cancer Center in 2002.
In addition to his formative leadership of the ACC, Glick also played an instrumental role in the creation of the Roberts Proton Therapy Center, which was established with a naming gift from Wharton alumnus the late Ralph J. Roberts and wife Suzanne, his son Brian L. Roberts, and Brian’s wife Aileen.
Glick became a driving force in philanthropy at Penn Medicine, culminating in his role as vice president and associate dean for resource development. Since 1985, he helped to raise over $600 million for Penn Medicine and the ACC, establishing many centers in partnership with patient philanthropists, including the Rena Rowan Breast Center and the Thalheimer Cardio-Oncology Center and significant funding for the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.
Over the years, he has chaired the search committees for half of the current clinical department chairs at the Perelman School of Medicine.
As a clinician-scholar, Glick’s research has mapped standards of care for breast cancer and lymphomas, Penn Medicine said in a statement. He pioneered the integration of adjuvant chemotherapy and definitive breast radiotherapy for early stage breast cancer and chaired the pivotal 1985 NCI Consensus Conference on Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer. He subsequently chaired consecutive St. Galen International Consensus Panels for Treatment of Primary Breast Cancer (1988-2011).
In 2000, a landmark clinical study published in NEJM on the role of bone marrow transplant for advanced breast cancer transformed the standard of practice, Penn Medicine said. Glick also conducted pivotal phase III randomized trials in Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. His research, which was continuously funded by NIH 1974-2006, has appeared in 165 peer-reviewed publications and 28 chapters and books.
Glick has trained and mentored several generations of medical students, residents, and fellows—three of his fellows went on to become directors of NCI-designated cancer centers.
A recognition event is being planned to celebrate Glick’s accomplishments and contributions to Penn Medicine.
