Professor Esther H. Chang is a member of the Founding Committee of ASNM. She has served as a professor in the Departments of Oncology and Otolaryngology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center of Georgetown University Medical Center since 1996. Before joining Georgetown University, Dr. Chang held positions in the National Cancer Institute, as a professor in the Department of Surgery at Stanford University, and as a professor in the Departments of Pathology and Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Dr. Chang has been a pioneer and contributor to understanding genetic influences on both the development and suppression of cancerous tumors, as well as to understanding the tumor’s resistance to radio/chemotherapy.
More recently, her research has focused on the application of a nanodelivery platform in cancer therapy, diagnosis and prevention. When systematically administered, this nanocomplex can efficiently and selectively deliver nucleic acid-based molecular therapeutics, diagnostic MRI contrast agents, and small molecules to not only primary tumors, but also metastases in animal models of a number of human cancers. The tumor targeting delivery of various molecular therapeutics has also been shown to dramatically synergize with conventional radio- and chemotherapies. This approach is now in Phase I clinical trials.
Dr. Chang has over 130 publications and has served as a member of a number of scientific advisory boards for the National Cancer Institute, NASA, the US Military Cancer Institute, and the Department of Energy.
