Dr. Joan H. Schiller
Overview and Educational Background
Dr. Joan H. Schiller is board certified in internal medicine specializing in Hematology-Oncology. She currently works as a professor and Chief of the Hematology/ Oncology Division at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Schiller began her career by receiving her medical degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1980. She then completed her residencies over the next three years at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and from 1984 to 1986 she worked at the University of Wisconsin completing fellowships in Human Oncology.
Professional Highlights
Professionally, she is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Eastern Co-Operative Oncology Group, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer as well as founder and president of the National Lung Cancer Partnership. She was also awarded the Andrea L. Simmons Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research.
Clinical Research and Publications
Dr. Schiller's research mainly focuses on drug development and experimental therapeutics for lung cancer. Specifically, she works to develop treatment modalities for small-cell and non small-cell lung cancer. She has been involved in Phase I, II and III clinical trials and uses radiation therapy in her treatment of lung cancer patients. Radiation therapy is also used to treat other cancers including mesothelioma. Dr. Schiller has also studied the use of circulating tumor cells with a microchip device saying oncologist have struggled with obtaining tumor tissue to determine if treatment is effective for decades. If this is new procedure is possible she claims it will represent "a new diagnostic approach that may bring us closer to an era of individualized medicine."
Lung cancer can be caused by a number of factors including exposure to asbestos fibers that are inhaled and become lodged into the soft tissue of the lungs. Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that is used in a number of building and insulation products. In the 1970s after its hazards were discovered, the government implemented regulations on its use. Aside from lung cancer, asbestos exposure can cause a number of illnesses including asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma (including peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma). Dr. Schiller's research and treatments can be beneficial to those who suffer from lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure.
Most recently she published "Mass Spectrometry to Predict Clinical Outcome for NSCLC Patients Treated with EGFR TKIs: A Cross Institutional Study" in the Journal of National Cancer Institute in 2007 with a number of other authors. The year prior, she also participated in publishing "Paclitaxel plus Carboplatin with or without Bevacizumab in Advanced Non-Squamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Randomized Study of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group," in the New England Journal of Medicine. Aside from her scholarly publications she will be releasing the second edition of "100 Questions & Answers About Lung Cancer" that she co-wrote with Karen Parles.
Contact Information
Joan H. Schiller, M.D.
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390-8852
(214) 648-4180
Source
UT Southwestern Physician Profile
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