Hematology/Oncology

The mission of the new Division of Hematology/Oncology at UB-Great Lakes Cancer Care is to reduce the cancer burden in Western New York by providing the highest quality cancer care and innovative research aimed to reduce incidence and mortality, educating the new generation of cancer researchers and oncologists and conducting cancer prevention programs specific for WNY community. The overall goal is to programmatically integrate clinical care, translational research and professional training, thereby strengthening the delivery of care to the community and enhancing clinical research by creating a new Center of Excellence for cancer patient care in Western New York.

The Division of Hematology and Oncology was established in May 2020 when Dr. Pili was named the new Chief. Previously, the clinical members of the Department of Medicine at Roswell Park Cancer Institute were the faculty members of the Division. The division consists of 11 clinical faculty members (two will join in the summer of 2025) and three non-clinical faculty members. Since its inception, the new division’s goal has been to integrate Great Lakes Cancer Care physicians into an academic program to provide a multi-disciplinary expertise in several areas of solid tumors (i.e. breast, thoracic, gastrointestinal, genitourinary malignancies), heme malignancies (i.e. lymphomas, myelodysplastic syndrome etc.) and benign hematology. Dr. Pili has been responsible for the academic growth of the faculty members of the division. The faculty members are involved in clinical care, clinical research and teaching, and participate to the activities proposed/required by the Department of Medicine. The establishment of a clinical trial portfolio across the different diseases with emphasis on investigator-initiated clinical trials has been a major focus for the division.

Overall, the Division of Hematology and Oncology is the only example where physicians in the UBMD, Kaleida/GPPC and ECMC systems belongs to the same group, without distinction between 'academia' and “private practice.”