Vol. 38, No. 18

1-9-2008
By: Jeff McCallister

New James CEO optimistic for improvement, growth

Michael Caligiuri envisions grand changes ahead for The James as he takes over as CEO of the cancer hospital. But he said he’s also happy for a few things that will stay relatively the same.

“The opportunity to become the third leader of The James, after Dr. James himself and after Dr. (David) Schuller, is a privilege and an honor,” Caligiuri said.

“The most important part of the transition is that it also keeps two of our superstars with us — Dr. Schuller will still be here as director emeritus, and Dr. Clara Bloomfield (who recruited him to OSU in 1997) stays as senior adviser to the the Comprehensive Cancer Center. So I’m humbled and excited because our future looks outstanding.”

The move comes as the Medical Center is about to embark on a $1 billion expansion, and Caligiuri said while expansion is of primary importance, he won’t forget the mission of The James.

“In terms of growth, we’ll look to generate new resources from our clinical operations and from philanthropy that will allow us to recruit another 50 cancer scientists who will bring both innovation and cancer funding to our great university,” he said. “But at the same time, we will retain and strengthen our commitment to the delivery of innovative therapies to patients so that we can further improve the rate of prevention and the rate of cure.

“It’s from these efforts we’ll move steadily toward our goal of being a top-10 National Cancer Institute-funded cancer program.”

He said along with the increased number of scientists, he’ll also work toward an overhaul in the administrative organization at The James.

“While we’ve quadrupled our cancer funding and vastly expanded our patient population, the administrative structure is over 10 years old,” he said. “We need to bring more good people to Ohio State.”

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