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CLEVELAND, May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- One of America's top cancer doctors with a national and international reputation for cancer research will lead the new Wesley Center for Immunotherapy at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center as well as the Division of Hematology.

Koen van Besien, MD, PhD, comes to UH Seidman Cancer Center from New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he has been Director of the Stem Cell Transplant Program and an attending physician. He is also a Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Dr. van Besien will lead the Wesley Center for Immunotherapy at UH Seidman Cancer Center, a cellular therapy facility that generates CAR-T, NK cell and other cellular-based therapies. Physician-scientists engage in groundbreaking research and bring new, life-extending immunotherapy treatments to patients. UH experts are creating cells for treatment in just eight days - an innovation that allows UH Seidman Cancer Center physicians to deliver life-enhancing therapy more quickly than previously possible.

With an established reputation for clinical research and care, Dr. van Besien has made numerous contributions to the field of cellular therapy and stem cell transplantation. Most recently, he has focused on methods to extend the use of transplantation to more patients in need. His group has recently reported the first successful transplant for a patient with HIV and leukemia using a haplo-cord graft - a unique procedure developed by his team. The patient remains free of HIV and leukemia more than four years after transplant.

Dr. van Besien is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Leukemia and Lymphoma and a member of the editorial review boards of the journals Bone Marrow Transplantation and Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. His NIH-supported research has been published in more than 300 peer-reviewed papers.

Dr. van Besien completed medical school and clinical training at College ND de la Paix in Namur and the University of Leuven, both in Belgium. He holds a PhD from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. He completed his hematology/oncology fellowship at Indiana University and in Bruges, Belgium. Dr. van Besien has served on the faculty of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He also directed transplant programs at the University of Illinois for four years and at the University of Chicago for a decade.

He is fluent in five languages: English, Dutch, German, Spanish and French.

Dr. van Besien joins UH Seidman Cancer Center on July 15.

About University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center/Cleveland, Ohio

UH Seidman Cancer Center is the only freestanding cancer hospital in Northeast Ohio, where all clinicians and staff are dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer while researching new and innovative treatment options through clinical trials. Nationally ranked cancer care is also available to patients through the 11-county region at 16 community-based locations. Our UH Seidman specialists make up 14 cancer-specific teams focused on determining integrated care plans tailored to patient's needs. UH Seidman Cancer Center is part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University, one of 52 comprehensive cancer centers in the country. Patients have access to advanced treatment options, ranging from a pioneering stem cell transplant program founded more than 40 years ago and a wide range of immunotherapy to the first and only proton therapy center in northern Ohio for adults and children. Go to UHhospitals.org/Seidman for more information.

About University Hospitals / Cleveland, Ohio Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 23 hospitals (including five joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system's flagship quaternary care, academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Oxford University and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. The main campus also includes the UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, with more than 3,000 active clinical trials and research studies underway. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including "America's Best Hospitals" from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to 19 Clinical Care Delivery and Research Institutes. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with more than 30,000 employees. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.

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SOURCE University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center