Dr. Markowitz and his team have been internationally recognized for their key contributions to unraveling the genetic pathways that drive two forms of inherited gastrointestinal cancers: hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer and hereditary diffuse gastric cancer. Recently, his team discovered evidence of a new and common family cancer gene that causes colon cancers to develop in 50-year olds. The next step involves discovering the actual identity of this colon cancer gene, which could be used to develop new drugs to combat the disease.
Another recent advance from Dr. Markowitz’s group is the development of a new stool test that detects colon cancer in its earliest stages, based on analysis of stool DNA. Dr. Markowitz’s new test directly contributed to the American Cancer Society’s new guidelines that endorse stool DNA testing as an alternative to colonoscopy in screening individuals for colon cancer. The Markowitz team’s test is the first new screening test for any cancer to win endorsement by the American Cancer Society in more than 10 years. In addition to the crucial role that his laboratory has played in the development of the new stool DNA screening test for colon cancer, Dr. Markowitz is continuing to work on efforts to develop an even more patient-friendly blood DNA test.
Dr. Markowitz serves as the principal investigator for the promising Colon Cancer Sibling Study at the University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center, which focuses on families that have developed colon cancer or polyps of the colon. The research, funded by the National Cancer Institute, is designed to find a new genetic link to colon cancer, which will help physicians screen families believed to be at risk and find and remove polyps before they become cancerous. The Sibling Study targets individuals and their brothers and sisters who developed colon cancer or colon polyps before the age of 65.
As a clinical oncologist, Dr. Markowitz also plays a key role in Ireland Cancer Center’s Familial Colon Cancer Clinic. This program combines the expertise of UH physicians and nurses in genetics, gastroenterology, oncology, gynecologic oncology, epidemiology and bioethics to provide families with colon cancer education, screening and treatment. Through the clinic, patients and their families have the opportunity to discuss their family medical history with a genetics counselor and receive a full medical evaluation, as well as a personalized screening and testing program, based on their risk factors.
Dr. Markowitz is the Francis Wragg Ingalls Professor of Genetics at Case Western Reserve University. He serves as a medical oncologist and heads the Cancer Genetics Program at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center, which is currently building a state-of-the-art free-standing Cancer Hospital to house all patient inpatient and outpatient cancer treatment services. Dr. Markowitz leads a preeminent team of researchers at The Iris S. and Bert L. Wolstein Research Building at UH Case Medical Center.
In addition, Dr. Markowitz serves as an investigator for the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which supports the nation’s most outstanding medical researchers. He is the Hughes Medical Institute’s only investigator in the state of Ohio. The importance of Dr. Markowitz’s research is further exemplified by his appointment to the prestigious nine-member medical advisory board of the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, co-founded by newswoman Katie Couric, and his membership on the scientific advisory boards of the Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Abramson Family Cancer Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
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