Peter Ujhazy, MD, PhD is the Deputy Associate Director of the Translational Research Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute.
He has received his Medical Degree at the Comenius University, and his Ph.D. at the Cancer Research Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, where he started his career in the Department of Tumor Immunology. He was involved in the development of diagnostics in blood malignancies, he studied natural immunity in lymphoid malignancies, and gained clinical experience in the adjacent Cancer Center. He worked for 6 years as a Visiting Scientist and later as a Cancer Research Scientist in Dr. Henry Mihich’s laboratory 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 the Washington, DC metropolitan area, he decided not to pursue a career in industry and accepted a position in Dr. Irvin Arias’ laboratory 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 ultimate goal of his original training — that is to help patients and populations at risk of cancer. During the past 14 years, Dr. Ujhazy has served as the Program Director for Lung, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma, Sarcoma, GI, Pancreas, Head & Neck, and Brain Tumor SPOREs. Currently, he is in charge of SPOREs in Lung cancer, Myeloma, and Sarcoma. His other duties include serving on various NCI committees and working groups.
Peter Ujhazy served as the Executive Vice President of the SVU in the years 2012-2016.