Stan Gerson becomes School of Medicine's interim dean and interim senior VP for medical affairs

Stan Gerson

Stan Gerson, Director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC), has become interim dean for the School of Medicine and interim senior vice president for medical affairs, effective July 1, 2020.

Under Gerson’s leadership last year, the National Cancer Institute designated the Case CCC “exceptional,” the highest rating possible. The center, which serves the cancer research and clinical needs of more than four million people in Ohio and beyond, is one of only a handful of 50 such entities to earn an exceptional rating after an extensive review of its programs.

“Stan has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in guiding the cancer center,” President Barbara R. Snyder said. “Today it is among a select few to have received the National Cancer Institute’s highest rating, an achievement that testifies to his great strengths in building collaborations around strategic priorities.”

Gerson came to Case Western Reserve in 1983 after completing a residency and fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The first recruit to a new Division of Hematology-Oncology, he went on to lead the Stem Cell Biology Center for more than a decade before becoming the cancer center’s director in 1984. Today the center includes 370 members who come from seven schools and 68 academic departments.

“This medical school and university have been my professional home for more than 30 years,” Gerson said. “I am honored to serve as interim dean and committed to our mission to create and deliver medical breakthroughs and train the next generation of physicians and scientists, improving healthcare and saving lives in our community and throughout the world. 

Gerson will continue to serve as the cancer center’s director while leading the medical school, and has appointed J. Alan Diehl, PhD, deputy director and chief operating officer, to assist in managing its daily operations during Gerson's time as interim dean.

The Asa and Patricia Shiverick—Jane Shiverick (Tripp) Professor of Hematological Oncology, Gerson has published more than 220 journal articles, 260 abstracts and 29 book chapters. He is the co-author of Clinical Hematology, and co-editor of Cancer Gene Therapy, now in its third edition. He holds several patents related to gene therapy and cancer drug development, and his discoveries have been licensed to Lentigen, Tracon, Novartis, Osiris, and Rodeo. Last year, his achievements earned election as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors; he is also the immediate past president of the American Association of Cancer Institutes and a member of the Association of American Physicians, an organization of senior physician scientists who are competitively selected.