Dr. John Letterio was appointed the Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in October in 2005. He joined Rainbow from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a member of The Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he served as a member of the senior staff in the Pediatric Oncology Branch and was the principal investigator in the Laboratory of Cell Regulation and Carcinogenesis.
Dr. John Letterio obtained his M.D. degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine, where he was the recipient of the Samuel J. Roessler Foundation Research Award in 1984 and the Upjohn Award for Excellence in Research in 1987. The work forming the basis of these awards was performed in Lewis T. Williams’ laboratory at the University of California – San Francisco and published in Science.
“U.S. News & World Report ranked University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital number four in the nation in pediatric care and remains the number one ranked children’s hospital in the midwest and region,” he notes. “We are extremely fortunate to be integrated into the Ireland Cancer Center, a leader in the field of cancer research and one of the top NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation. I’m so pleased to be a part of Rainbow, as we have a strong tradition of clinical excellence and providing state-of-the-art care to patients and their families. One of our top priorities is to further enhance the division in placing a major emphasis on high-impact clinical and basic research to develop innovative approaches to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer.”