Peter Ujhazy, M.D., Ph.D.
Peter Ujhazy started his career in the Department of Tumor Immunology at the Cancer Research Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. He was involved in the development of diagnostics in blood malignancies, he studied natural immunity in lymphoid malignancies, and he gained clinical experience in the adjacent Institute of Clinical Oncology.
He worked for six years as a Visiting Scientist and later as a Cancer Research Scientist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, USA and published extensively on chemo-immunotherapy and multidrug resistance.
After a short stay in the biotech company Biotech Research Laboratories in Maryland, he decided not to pursue a career in industry and accepted a position in the Department of Physiology, Tufts University in Boston, MA, where he studied the physiologic role of ATP-dependent transporters.
In 2001, Dr. Ujhazy accepted a position in the National Cancer Institute's Organ Systems Branch that managed Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs). Working with SPOREs grants brought him closer to the goal of his original training - to help patients and populations at risk of cancer. Dr. Ujhazy has served as the Program Director for Lung, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma, Sarcoma, GI, Pancreas, Head & Neck, and Brain Tumor SPOREs. Currently, he oversees SPOREs in lung cancer, sarcoma, myeloma, and epigenetics. He is also involved as a Project Scientist in the Small Cell Lung Cancer and in the Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Stromal Reprograming (PSRC) Consortia. His other duties include serving on various NCI committees and working groups.
Selected publications:
Calls to action on lung cancer management and research.
Meyer ML, Hirsch FR, Bunn PA, Ujhazy P, Fredrickson D, Berg CD, Carbone DP, Halmos B, Singh H, Borghaei H, Ferris A, Langer C, Dacic S, Mok TS, Peters S, Johnson BE.Oncologist. 2024 Dec 6;29(12):e1634-e1645. doi: 10.1093/oncolo/oyae169.PMID: 39002167 Free PMC article.
From clinical specimens to human cancer preclinical models-a journey the NCI-cell line database-25 years later.
Mulshine JL, Ujhazy P, Antman M, Burgess CM, Kuzmin I, Bunn PA Jr, Johnson BE, Roth JA, Pass HI, Ross SM, Aldige CR, Wistuba II, Minna JD.J Cell Biochem. 2020 Aug;121(8-9):3986-3999. doi: 10.1002/jcb.29564. Epub 2019 Dec 5.PMID: 31803961 Free PMC article.
Small cell lung cancer: updates and new concepts.
Ujhazy P, Lindwasser OW.Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2018 Feb;7(1):1-3. doi: 10.21037/tlcr.2018.02.01.PMID: 29535908 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
Small Cell Lung Cancer: Can Recent Advances in Biology and Molecular Biology Be Translated into Improved Outcomes?
Bunn PA Jr, Minna JD, Augustyn A, Gazdar AF, Ouadah Y, Krasnow MA, Berns A, Brambilla E, Rekhtman N, Massion PP, Niederst M, Peifer M, Yokota J, Govindan R, Poirier JT, Byers LA, Wynes MW, McFadden DG, MacPherson D, Hann CL, Farago AF, Dive C, Teicher BA, Peacock CD, Johnson JE, Cobb MH, Wendel HG, Spigel D, Sage J, Yang P, Pietanza MC, Krug LM, Heymach J, Ujhazy P, Zhou C, Goto K, Dowlati A, Christensen CL, Park K, Einhorn LH, Edelman MJ, Giaccone G, Gerber DE, Salgia R, Owonikoko T, Malik S, Karachaliou N, Gandara DR, Slotman BJ, Blackhall F, Goss G, Thomas R, Rudin CM, Hirsch FR.J Thorac Oncol. 2016 Apr;11(4):453-74. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2016.01.012. Epub 2016 Jan 30.PMID: 26829312 Free PMC article. Review.
Evidence for the involvement of ecto-5'-nucleotidase (CD73) in drug resistance.
Ujházy P, Berleth ES, Pietkiewicz JM, Kitano H, Skaar JR, Ehrke MJ, Mihich E.Int J Cancer. 1996 Nov 15;68(4):493-500. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0215(19961115)68:4<493::AID-IJC15>3.0.CO;2-6.PMID: 8945621
Education
Peter Ujhazy has received his Medical Degree at the Comenius University, and his PhD at the Cancer Research Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovak Republic).