News

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute welcomes Bradley Rockwell, M.D. , transplant hematologist. Dr. Rockwell is a member of the Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant , Hematology Oncology and Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Multidisciplinary Teams at Karmanos. He specializes in bone marrow transplants and treating leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodysplasia, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He began seeing patients at the Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit in July 2025. "I am joining such an incre...

This summer, undergraduate students, graduate trainees and faculty gathered in the Margherio Conference Room on Wayne State University’s (WSU) campus for a memorable day of collaboration, mentorship and inspiration. The Inaugural Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Meetup, in partnership with the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute , united participants from WSU, Michigan State University (MSU) and the Van Andel Institute, offering a unique opportunity for students to engage directly with academi...

Ovarian cancer can be a difficult cancer to diagnose in the early stages because symptoms usually aren’t noticeable for women until the disease has progressed.  According to the American Cancer Society, more than 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year in the U.S. The good news? There are steps you can take to understand your risk better—and possibly lower it. Start with Family History One of the most important things you can do is learn about your family’s health history. If your ...

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute names Kathleen Fedoronko, MSN, RN, OCN, as the new chief nursing officer and vice president of Patient Care Services at Karmanos Cancer Hospital. Fedoronko brings over 25 years of ambulatory and acute health care leadership, 20 of those years at Karmanos. She assumed the position in June after Kathleen Carolin, RN, BSN, MSA, the former CNO, retired. “I’ve dedicated my career to oncology nursing, and it's been my goal to continue leading excellent nurses at one o...

Healthline Though it's known that smoking can cause cancer, and not just lung cancer, researchers have published a new study revealing chemicals from cigarette smoke that “reprogram the immune system” and assist in tumor growth. Asfar Azmi, Ph.D., scientist, director of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Initiative and member of the Molecular Therapeutics Research Program at Karmanos, and Najeeb Al Hallak, M.D., MS , medical oncologist and co-leader of the Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology Multid...

Wayne State University (WSU) marked a major milestone in its mission to advance health and scientific discovery with the groundbreaking of the Health Sciences Research Building (HSRB) on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. This transformative, $200 million, 160,000-square-foot facility will drive next-generation opportunities for innovation, collaboration and community engagement. The groundbreaking ceremony – held at the building’s future site at 545 E. Canfield Street in Midtown Detroit – brought together state, ...

Boris Pasche, M.D., Ph.D., FACP , president and CEO of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, has been listed in the Becker’s Hospital Review’s Academic Medical Center CEOs to Know . The 2025 list includes 95 CEOs nationwide who are setting the pace for the nation’s leading academic medical centers and academic health systems by guiding “institutions that serve as hubs for discovery and innovation, overseeing groundbreaking clinical trials, pioneering technologies and novel treatment mode...

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) has continued its Community Conversations on Cancer series in 2025 in partnership with the Detroit Public Library. The program invites members of the public to dialogue about current cancer research and treatment, improved health outcomes, and a deep understanding of a cancer diagnosis. The 2025 series includes six events, each a collaborative, informative discussion introducing the community to a different asp...

WDIV Not satisfied with just having surgery as the only treatment option, Terrell Thomas came to Karmanos Cancer Institute for a second opinion for his prostate cancer. After meeting with Michael Cher, M.D. , urologic oncologist and member of the Genitourinary Oncology Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) at Karmanos, he was also given the option of radiation therapy, which was the treatment he chose. That’s when he met Nitin Vaishampayan, M.D. , radiation oncologist and leader of the Genitourinary Oncology MDT...

For Gen Sheng Wu, Ph.D., a member of the Molecular Therapeutics Research Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor in the Department of Oncology and Pathology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, witnessing the research he began 20 years ago lead to a newly approved cancer treatment is a dream come true. ONC201, now renamed dordaviprone (ModeysoTM), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 6, 2025, to treat a rare and aggressive brain cancer...