12/7/2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Nationally known cancer expert Robert E. Hall will be the first director of the Great Lakes Cancer Institute (GLCI), a partnership between Michigan State University and the Flint-based McLaren Health Care Corp. that will strengthen cancer care and research throughout much of Michigan.
Hall's appointment, which also includes a tenured professorship in the MSU Department of Medicine, was approved by the MSU Board of Trustees at its Dec. 7 meeting. He also will serve as division chief of the department's hematology/oncology unit.
Hall's appointment is effective Jan. 7, 2002.
Hall comes to MSU from the University of Tennessee, where he was a professor of medicine and former chief of the division of hematology/medical oncology.
"We are fortunate to have been able to attract an excellent clinician, a career cancer scientist and skilled administrator to the position of director of the GLCI," said Glenn C. Davis, dean of the MSU College of Human Medicine. "I'm confident that Dr. Hall's recruitment will create a powerful sense of momentum for the newly created GLCI.
"Community physicians will find Dr. Hall to be accessible, open and extremely interested in partnership," Davis said.
"We are delighted to recruit someone of Dr. Hall's stature and prominence in cancer research and treatment to lead the Great Lakes Cancer Institute," said Philip Incarnati, president and CEO of McLaren Health Care Corp. "Dr. Hall's leadership is a critical element in integrating the expertise of MSU and McLaren Health Care and extending advanced cancer treatment and research to the communities of mid-Michigan."
Hall has been at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville since 1991. Prior to that he was with the Guthrie Clinic Foundation for Medical Research, where he served as scientific director, executive director and senior scientist.
He also has served as a faculty member at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse and the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Hall has a medical degree and a doctorate in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University. His undergraduate degree is from Princeton University.
As director of the Great Lakes Cancer Institute, Hall will oversee a unique partnership dedicated to conducting groundbreaking cancer research that will lead to the finest of care for patients throughout Michigan and beyond.
Key components of the institute will be housed at MSU and McLaren facilities. Faculty doing basic cancer research will be at MSU, while those focusing on clinical research will be housed at McLaren's acute care facilities, including Lansing's Ingham Regional Medical Center's Breslin Cancer Center, McLaren Regional Medical Center's Cancer Center and the Lapeer Regional Hospital.
McLaren Health Care Corp. is one of the largest health systems in Michigan, serving a 22-county region. It has annually been ranked in the top 20 integrated health systems in the United States.