NEW HAVEN — After an extensive national search, Thomas J. Lynch, Jr., MD, has been named director of Yale Cancer Center and physician-in-chief of the new Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, which will open in October 2009. His appointment is effective April 1, 2009.

Dr. Lynch, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is chief of hematology/oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center. A lung cancer expert, he is director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers at MGH and director of medical oncology at the MGH Thoracic Oncology Center.

A native of Boston, Dr. Lynch received his undergraduate degree from Yale College in 1982 and his MD degree from Yale School of Medicine in 1986. He completed his internship and residency at MGH, and after serving a fellowship in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he joined the medical staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1993. In 1996, he helped found the Boston-based Kenneth B. Schwartz Center for the Promotion of Caregiver/Patient Relations and became vice chair of its board of directors in 2006.

As director of the MGH Thoracic Oncology Center, Dr. Lynch has made important contributions in developmental therapeutics and in defining the optimal treatment for patients with lung cancer. He has pioneered the use of molecular testing for mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene to select patients who can benefit from targeted lung cancer therapies. He is the author of numerous publications and maintains a vigorous clinical practice.

Dr. Lynch also will oversee a new institute for cancer biology at Yale’s 136-acre West Campus, for which he will be recruiting a director and senior and junior scientists in the fields of cell signaling, cancer immunology and drug development and target acquisition.

"In his own research and in what he has accomplished in building clinical programs, Tom is an incredibly dynamic thinker and leader," said Robert J. Alpern, M.D., dean of Yale School of Medicine. "He has a vision for Yale Cancer Center to be preeminent in clinical care, clinical research and basic research."

Marna P. Borgstrom, YNHH president and CEO, described Lynch as "a superb clinician, teacher, mentor and administrator."

"As we prepare to open Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven," Borgstrom said, "we’re delighted that Dr. Lynch will provide the medical leadership that interweaves clinical expertise with compassionate, family-centered care for our patients."

Other major plans for the Cancer Center include recruiting clinicians and translational researchers, expanding clinical trials and developing a clinical program that will provide molecular profiling services to enable targeted therapies.

Dr. Lynch said he is excited about the plans of the medical school and hospital to invest in new programs and infrastructure to improve the health and longevity of patients with cancer. "With these new facilities and programs, Yale will be nationally known for its expertise in personalized cancer therapy, using molecular profiling to match therapy to the genetic signature of the patient’s tumor as well as its commitment to quality, safety and outcomes measurement," he said.

Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, which will open in October 2009, is a 14-story, 500,000-square-foot building, expected to become the most comprehensive cancer care facility in New England. The new building, which will consolidate Yale and Yale-New Haven’s inpatient and outpatient cancer services, will include 168 beds, outpatient treatment rooms, expanded operating rooms, infusion suites, diagnostic imaging services, and a specialized women’s cancer center, as well as a floor each for diagnostic and therapeutic radiology.

Yale Cancer Center is southern New England’s only comprehensive cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and one of only 40 in the nation. When the NCI created the first eight comprehensive cancer centers in 1971, Yale’s was among them. It is a collaborative venture between Yale School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital, a partnership which enables the Center to provide the newest advances and best approaches for the detection, diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is a 944-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine. Yale-New Haven was founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826 and today, the hospital complex includes Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital and Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital, with a combined medical staff of about 3,400 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. Visit www.ynhh.org for additional information.

Established in 1810, the Yale School of Medicine is known throughout the world as one of the leading centers for biomedical research, education and advanced health care. Founded in 1810, the School of Medicine has grown to include every modern medical discipline. Its faculty includes some of the world's most respected scholars in medicine, public health and biomedical science. http://info.med.yale.edu/ysm/