Leadership Profiles
Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD, became the president and chief executive officer of the Institute in 2000 and also serves as chief executive officer of Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare, director of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, and as a trustee of Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care. Dr. Benz is presently the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine, professor of Pediatrics, professor of Pathology, and faculty dean for Oncology at Harvard Medical School.
He received a bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Princeton University, a medical degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Medical School, and a master's degree (privatum) from Yale University.
Immediately prior to assuming the presidency of the Institute, Dr. Benz was chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Sir William Osler Professor of Medicine.
Author of more than 200 articles, books, chapters, reviews, and abstracts, Dr. Benz is a past president of both the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and is currently an associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dorothy E. Puhy
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Treasurer
Dorothy E. Puhy became the Institute's chief financial officer and director for Fiscal Services in March 1994. She was named senior vice president in 2001 and executive vice president in 2004. Ms. Puhy is chief administrative officer of Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare and treasurer of HealthCare Dimensions, Inc.
Prior to joining Dana-Farber, she was chief financial officer at New England Medical Center in Boston and a senior manager at Ernst and Whinney. Ms. Puhy received her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her business degree from the Wharton School.
Karen Bird
Senior Vice President for Finance
Karen Bird joined Dana-Farber in 1999 and became senior vice president for Finance in 2007. Prior to coming to Dana-Farber, Ms. Bird held positions at Faulkner Hospital, where she served as vice president for Network Development, and at New England Medical Center, where she was vice president of Finance. She received a bachelor's degree from Trinity College and a graduate degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Susan D. Block, MD
Chair, Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care
Susan D. Block, MD is the Chair of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Co-Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care, a national center of excellence in palliative care education. Dr. Block received her AB from Stanford University, her MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and completed residencies in both internal medicine and psychiatry at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. She is board-certified in both fields and in palliative medicine.
Richard S. Boskey
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Richard S. Boskey joined the Institute in 1999. He serves as assistant secretary of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare, and secretary of the Dana-Farber Trust, Inc. and Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care. Previously, he served in various positions at Partners HealthCare and Massachusetts General Hospital, including deputy general counsel, and was an associate at the law firm Hill & Barlow. Mr. Boskey received his bachelor's degree from Brown University and his master's and law degrees from the University of Virginia.
Beverly R. Ginsburg Cooper, MBA
Senior Vice President for Research
Beverly R. Ginsburg Cooper came to Dana-Farber in November 2006 from the University of Pennsylvania, where she served for 16 years as executive director of the Abramson Cancer Center. Prior to that, Ms. Ginsburg Cooper was president of Medical Partnerships, Inc., vice president of Pennsylvania Hospital, and chief operating officer of a community hospital.
Ms. Ginsburg Cooper received her bachelor's degree in education from Adelphi University and her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, she is president of the Cancer Center Administrators Forum and a member of the external advisory boards of several comprehensive cancer centers.
James D. Griffin, MD
Chair, Department of Medical Oncology
James D. Griffin, MD, received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1974. After residency training in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he completed a hematology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and a medical oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber. In 1981, he joined the staff of Dana-Farber, where he currently is director of the Leukemia Program and chair of the Department of Medical Oncology.
From 1993 to 1998, Dr. Griffin was editor-in-chief of Blood. He is a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and currently sits on the scientific advisory boards of the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center and Case Western Cancer Center.
Jay R. Harris, MD
Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Jay R. Harris, MD, received his medical degree from Stanford University in 1970. He trained in radiation oncology at the Harvard Joint Center for Radiation Therapy, and joined the Dana-Farber staff in 1977. Dr. Harris chairs the Department of Radiation Oncology at Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Children's Hospital Boston, which constitute the Longwood Radiation Oncology Center. He is also a professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School.
Deborah Hicks
Senior Vice President for Human Resources
Deborah Hicks joined Dana-Farber as the Senior Vice President for Human Resources in 2011. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, Hicks served as the associate dean and chief human resources officer at Harvard Medical School.
She joined Harvard Medical School in January 2009. Previously, Hicks was the vice president of Human Resources at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC), joining HPHC in 1988 and becoming vice president of Human Resources and part of the leadership team in 1999, where she was instrumental in supporting the organization during the turnaround of HPHC from receivership to profitability.
She currently serves as chair of the Board of the New England Human Resources Association, holds a master's degree in Counseling Psychology/Organizational Management from Antioch University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Joseph Jacobson, MD
Chief Quality Officer
Joseph Jacobson, MD, joined Dana-Farber Cancer Institutein 2011 as the Institute's first Chief Quality Officer, overseeing clinical quality programs across Dana-Farber and its affiliates, and representing Dana-Farber in regional and national quality improvement efforts. He focuses on clinical process measurement and improvement, efficiency and effectiveness of care, and quality leadership development. He is also a member of and practicing physician in our Thoracic Oncology Program.
Before joining Dana-Farber, Dr. Jacobson served as the Chairman of Medicine at North Shore Medical Center. As part of the Partners Healthcare system, he co-developed and currently co-directs the Partners Clinical Process Improvement Leadership Program. He has an extensive track record in quality measurement and quality improvement, serving as a founding member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Oncology Practice Initiative, as co-developer of the ASCO/ONS Chemotherapy Safety Standards and as recent past Chair of the ASCO Quality of Care Committee.
Philip Kantoff, MD
Chief Clinical Research Officer
Philip Kantoff, MD, graduated from Brown University Medical School in 1979. After completing his internship, residency and chief residency in internal medicine at New York University Hospital and Bellevue Hospital, he spent four years at the National Institutes of Health conducting research in gene therapy. He joined Dana-Farber in 1987 and became director of what is now the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology in 1988.
Dr. Kantoff is chief of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, leader of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Prostate Cancer Program, and director of the Prostate Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE). He is also a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He became chief clinical research officer in October 2006.
Lee M. Nadler, MD
Senior Vice President, Experimental Medicine
Lee M. Nadler, MD, received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1973. After residency training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and training at the National Cancer Institute in tumor immunology, he completed a medical oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber, where he joined the staff in 1980. During his tenure at Dana-Farber, he has served as chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and was the first chair of the Department of Adult Oncology. Dr. Nadler is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Pan Mass Challenge Senior Investigator at Dana-Farber.
Stuart H. Orkin, MD
Chairman, Department of Pediatric Oncology
Stuart H. Orkin, MD, received his medical degree in 1972 from Harvard Medical School, followed by postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health and clinical training in pediatrics and hematology-oncology at Children's Hospital Boston and Dana-Farber, where he joined the faculty in 1978. Dr. Orkin is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the David G. Nathan Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Over the past decade, his laboratory has defined critical nuclear regulators of hematopoiesis.
Susan S. Paresky
Senior Vice President for Development
Susan S. Paresky joined the Institute in 1997. She was associate dean for Development at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she executed the school's fundraising program as part of Harvard University's $2 billion campaign. She has also held senior positions at Brandeis University and Wheaton College. Ms. Paresky received her business degree from Simmons Graduate School of Management and her bachelor's degree from Wheaton College, where she now serves as a trustee.
Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN
Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services and Chief of Nursing
Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN, also serves as the nursing director of the Hematology/Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and as the cancer center nurse leader for Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare. She received her bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her master's and doctorate degrees from Boston University. Dr Reid Ponte completed a three year Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellowship in 2004 and was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing.
Barrett J. Rollins, MD, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Barrett J. Rollins, MD, PhD, received his doctoral degree in 1979 and medical degree in 1980 from Case Western Reserve University and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston. He then performed clinical and research fellowships in medical oncology at Dana-Farber and joined the Institute's faculty in 1986. Dr. Rollins is currently Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Stephen E. Sallan, MD
Chief of Staff
Stephen E. Sallan, MD, joined the institute in 1973 as a trainee before becoming a member of the staff in the Department of Pediatric Oncology. He was named chief of staff and chairman of the Medial Staff Executive Committee in 1995. Dr. Sallan received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Wayne State University. He is presently a professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and was named the Quick Family Senior Investigator in 2002.
Lawrence N. Shulman, MD
Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs
Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, became chief medical officer and senior vice president for Medical Affairs at the Institute in June 2002. Prior to that, he served as Dana-Farber's vice chair for Clinical Services for the Department of Adult Oncology. Dr. Shulman is involved in clinical research and care for patients with breast cancer and lymphoma. He is an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and received his bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School.
Steven R. Singer
Senior Vice President for Communications
Steven R. Singer joined the Institute in 1997. He previously served as director of Communications and Public Affairs and adjunct lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has worked as a press secretary in the U.S. House of Representatives, and is past chair of the National Cancer Institute's Public Affairs Network. Mr. Singer received his bachelor's degree from Colby College and a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School.
Scott J. Swanson, MD
Chief Surgical Officer
Scott J. Swanson, MD, joined Dana-Farber as Chief Surgical Officer in 2008. He is the Disease Center Leader of the Thoracic Oncology Program, and leads a multidisciplinary group focused on optimizing the experience and outcome for patients with thoracic malignancy. Dr. Swanson is also director of the Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He received a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Amherst College, and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School.
Annick D. Van den Abbeele, MD
Chief, Department of Imaging
Annick Van den Abbeele, MD received her BA and MD from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. Following a residency in Pediatrics at the Université Catholique de Louvain and a Neonatology fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, she completed a residency in Nuclear Medicine and a fellowship in Radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA and Harvard Medical School, followed by seven years in basic sciences research. In 1994, Dr. Van den Abbeele assumed the position of Director of Nuclear Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and in 2004 became the Clinical Director of Radiology. In 2006, she was promoted to Chief of the Department of Imaging. She has been a faculty member at Harvard Medical School since 1987.