James S. Economou

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For the American football player, see James Economou.
James S. Economou
Born (1951-11-07) November 7, 1951 (age 72)
Alma materJohns Hopkins University
Occupation(s)Surgical oncologist, tumor immunologist, UCLA Vice Chancellor For Research

James S. Economou is an American physician-scientist on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he is also a surgical oncologist and tumor immunologist.[1][2] He was Vice Chancellor for Research at UCLA (2010-2015) where he promoted academic entrepreneurship, transdisciplinary research, and support of the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The UCLA research enterprise generates almost one billion dollars in extramural funds annually.[3][4][5]

Early life and education[edit]

Economou was born in 1951 in Evanston, Illinois and is the grandson of Greek immigrants.[6] He graduated from New Trier West High School (Northfield, IL), received his BA ('72) and M.D./Ph.D. ('80) from The Johns Hopkins University and trained in general surgery at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He joined UCLA faculty in 1986, where he has remained for his entire professional career.[7]

James is the son of the late Steven Economou, MD, and Kathryn Dotska Economou.[8]

Career[edit]

Economou is the Beaumont Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics and Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA.[9]

With Arie Belldegrun, he led the first gene therapy trial on the West Coast in the early 1990s and was the founding director of the UCLA Human Gene Medicine Program.[10] He served as Chief of the UCLA Division of Surgical Oncology (2000-2017) and was the 65th President of the Society of Surgical Oncology.[11][7] He has also served as a founding member of the Los Angeles Zoo Medical Advisory Board and has operated on a male silverback lowlands gorilla with a large parotid tumor, a Borneo orangutan with a laryngeal sac infection and a single-horned Indian white rhinoceros with cancer.[12][13][14][15][16]

He served for 8 years as Deputy Director of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.[17] He has chaired two National Cancer Institute Study Sections, and was continuously NIH funded for 30 years on the UCLA faculty. He received the Stop Cancer Richard Barasch Seed Grant Award (1999),[18] the James Ewing Medal from the Society of Surgical Oncology (2006), and the Flance-Karl Award from the American Surgical Association (2013).[19] In 2015, he became the 134th President of the American Surgical Association, the nation's oldest and most prestigious surgical society.[12]

Economou’s research interests in tumor immunology include dendritic cell vaccination, DNA vaccines and adoptive cell therapy using genetically engineered T cells.[20] Economou has served on the Editorial Boards for the American Journal of Surgery, Surgery, the World Journal of Surgery [21] and the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.[22] He has published more than 100 research articles and book chapters.[citation needed] As Vice Chancellor of Research at [UCLA] Economou promoted a culture of entrepreneurship, diversity, and transdisciplinary scholarship and research.[23][24]

Economou is a co-founder of Kite Pharma,[25][26] a biotechnology company focused on the design and development of immune-based targeted therapies for multiple cancer indications. On June 6, 2014, Kite Pharma announced it had entered into an exclusive, worldwide license with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).[27] Kite Pharma had a successful public offering on June 20, 2014.[28]

Selected publications[edit]

  • Butterfield, L.H.; Jilani, S.; Chakraborty, N.G.; Bui, L.A.; Ribas, A.; Dissette, V.; Lau, R.; Gamradt, S.; Glaspy, J.A.; McBride, W.H.; Mukherji, B.; Economou, J.S. (1998). "Generation of melanoma-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes by dendritic cells transduced with a MART-1 adenovirus". Journal of Immunology. 161 (10): 5607–5613. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.161.10.5607. PMID 9820539. S2CID 24302039.
  • Butterfield, L.H.; Meng, W.; Koh, A.; Vollmer, C.M.; Ribas, A. Dissette; Faull, K.; Glaspy, J.A.; McBride, W.H.; Economou, J.S. (2001). "T cell responses to HLA-A*0201-restricted peptides derived from human alpha fetoprotein". Journal of Immunology. 166 (8): 5300–5308. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.166.8.5300. PMID 11290817.
  • Ma, C.; Cheung, A.F.; Chodon, T.; Koya, R.C.; Wu, Z.; Ng, C.; Avramis, E.; Cochran, A.J.; Witte, O.N.; Baltimore, D.; Chmielowski, B.; Economou, J.S.; Comin-Anduix, B.; Ribas, A.; Heath, J. (2013). "Multifunctional T cell analyses to study response and progression in adoptive cell transfer immunotherapy". Cancer Discovery. 3 (4): 418–429. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-12-0383. PMC 3716460. PMID 23519018.

2017 retraction. http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/16/5/977

References[edit]

  1. ^ "About the Vice Chancellor for Research". University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Medical School Doctors". David Geffen School of Medicine. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  3. ^ "The Ecosystem of an Entrepreneurial University". National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. 2012-02-06. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  4. ^ "UCLA continues to lead way for innovation, research in SoCal". UC Health. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  5. ^ "UCLA ORA PORTAL". University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  6. ^ Economou, James S. "Welcoming Remarks to the UCLA Diversity Research Conference".
  7. ^ a b "Society of Surgical Oncology Elects James S. Economou as its President" (PDF). Society of Surgical Oncology. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Economou, M.d., Steven G." Chicago Tribune. 9 April 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Faculty Database | David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA". David Geffen School of Medicine. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  10. ^ "2013 Milken Insittue Global Conference: Speaker's Biography". Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  11. ^ "A Society in Transition: Presidential Remarks at the 65th Annual SSO Cancer Symposium" (PDF). Society of Surgical Oncology. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  12. ^ a b Economou, J.S. "A Society in Transition: Presidential Remarks at the 65th Annual SSO Cancer Symposium". [1]. May 2012.
  13. ^ "Zoobiquity Conference". Zoobiquity.com. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Randa the Rhino Battles Skin Cancer". KTLA News. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  15. ^ "New radiation treatment saves cancer-stricken rhinoceros". Atom Watch News. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  16. ^ UC, Regents. "Physicians Use Skills to Keep Zoo Animals Alive".
  17. ^ "James Economou, Deputy Director, JCCC". Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  18. ^ "STOP CANCER Award". stopcancer.org. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  19. ^ "American Surgical Association Awards: Flance-Karl Award Recipients". Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  20. ^ "American Association for Cancer Research - James S. Economou Publications". American Association for Cancer Research. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  21. ^ "World Journal of Surgery:Acknowledgements" (PDF). World Journal of Surgery. 21 (9): 1004. November 1997. doi:10.1007/PL00024610. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  22. ^ "American College of Surgeons Periodicals: Editors". American College of Surgeons. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  23. ^ "East Bay Express". 26 June 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  24. ^ Basken, Paul (2013-08-12). "The Chronicle of Higher Education". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  25. ^ "Bloomberg Businessweek Company Overwiew of Kite Pharma". Retrieved 9 August 2012.[dead link]
  26. ^ "Kite Pharma - Scientific Advisory Board". Kite Pharma. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  27. ^ Kite Pharma. Press Releases. June 6, 2014.
  28. ^ Calia, Michael. "Kite Pharma Soars Above IPO Price on First Day of Trading. The Wall Street Journal. June 20, 2014.

External links[edit]

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