New Co-Leader in Cancer Pharmacology Research Named at Rutgers Cancer Institute

New Brunswick, N.J., May 12, 2016 – Stephen K. Burley, MD, DPhil, has been named as co-program leader of the Cancer Pharmacology Research Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. This basic science program unites investigators with broad scientific expertise who share a strong interest in cancer pharmacology and preclinical drug development. The aim of the program is to discover, design, and develop new anti-cancer agents that will translate into more effective cancer treatments. In this new role, Dr. Burley will work with co-program leader X.F. Steven Zheng, PhD, a university professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in determining the mode of action and mechanism of resistance to anti-cancer agents and developing novel concepts and strategies for cancer treatment.

A resident of Warren Township, Burley has been a full research member of Rutgers Cancer Institute since 2013. He is the director of the Center for Integrative Proteomics Research, founding director of the Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, and a distinguished professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University. He also serves as director of the Research Collaboratory Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank.

It is Burley’s varied experience that Rutgers Cancer Institute Deputy Director and Associate Director for Basic Science Eileen White, PhD, says will be quite valuable to the program. “Dr. Burley’s presence brings a wealth of insight into protein structure and drug discovery that will greatly inform precision medicine oncology as well as many other program areas at Rutgers Cancer Institute,” notes Dr. White, who is also a distinguished professor of molecular biology and biochemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University.