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Dr. Eric Kimchi Appointed as Medical Director of Ellis Fischel Cancer Center

Ellis Fischel Cancer Center
KBIA

Dr. Eric Kimchi was appointed the medical director of MU’s Ellis Fischel Cancer Center on Thursday.

He said he’s looking forward to expanding the recognition and capabilities of the center, and that MU is one of a few universities uniquely situated to become a nation-wide leader in cancer treatment.

“I think the number’s only like six in the entire country that have the resources that we have,” Kimchi said. “There’s really so much to work with. Really limitless potential.”

Kimchi is known for his groundbreaking research that shed light on the immune system’s response to liver cancer. His expertise is compounded by the fact that he will be joining his former colleague, Dr. Kevin Staveley-O’Carroll, at the university. O’Carroll has recently been named the director of the cancer center, and Kimchi said that they have brought their lab from South Carolina to MU.

“The lab looks at cancer immunotherapy, trying to target cancers by manipulating the immune system to recognize cancer cells and to destroy them,” Kimchi said.

Kimchi also serves as an associate professor and as the chief of the MU School of Medicine Division of Surgical Oncology.

Before coming to the university, Kimchi was an associate professor of surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. In addition to his medical credentials, Kimchi has an MBA from the Military College of South Carolina.

James Stannard, the interim dean of the School of Medicine, said in a press release that “Dr. Kimchi is another addition to our leadership team whose significant contributions to his field as an academic physician exemplify the MU School of Medicine’s commitment to leading-edge clinical care, research and medical education.”