MSCR Faculty

Roy S. Weiner, M.D. - Dr. Roy Weiner is the Schlieder Professor of Medical Oncology and Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Training at Tulane University School of Medicine. and also serves as Director of the MS-CR Program. Dr. Weiner trained at the NCI, at the Institut for Cancerologie et d'Immunogenetique in Villejuif under Prof. George Mathe, and at Harvard. His laboratory research focused on stem cell physiology and cryobiology of lymphoid populations. He has enormous experience in designing and executing small translational clinical trials, large prospective randomized therapeutic trials, and the analysis of large registry databases. He has directed cancer activities as PI of the NCI-funded Cancer Center Planning Grant at the University of Florida. During his tenure as Program Director at the University of Florida, he was responsible for the training of 29 medical oncologists, 14 of whom currently hold full-time academic positions on the faculty of major medical schools. He was also the laboratory preceptor for eight trainees who are now full-time academicians and have independent research programs. He has served the NIH as Chairman of the Clinical Sciences Study Section (NRSA), and was a member of the Clinical Program Project Study Section and the CCIRC.

Paula Gregory, PhD, is a Mississippi native. She received both her BS and MS. degrees at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her PhD research was carried out at Tulane University on cancer cytogenetics. For her postdoctoral training, she worked with Dr. Bill Brinkley at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and did further training with Dr. Francis Collins at the University of Michigan. While at U of M, she started the first Education Program within a Human Genome Center. In 1993, she started the Genetics Education Office of the National Institute for Human Genome Research within the National Institutes of Health, as a national extension of her work at U of M. While at the NIH, she started several new and innovative educational programs for the media, policy makers, students, faculty and the public. She worked with high school teachers each year from all around the country. These efforts earned her the NHGRI Award of Merit (1994), NIH Director's Award (1997), the NIH Award of Merit (1998) and the Champions of the James Award (2000). She accepted a faculty position at the Ohio State University in 1997 and began research focused on cancer genetics education. In 2002 Dr. Gregory joined the Department of Genetics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center as an Associate Professor.

Dr. Gregory directs a High School Cancer Research Partnership program funded by the National Cancer Institute. This program brings PCR technology into high school biology classes in Louisiana. Students analyze normal and tumor cell DNA. They learn basic concepts of cancer genetics and discuss the ethical implications of predictive genetic tests and the impact this information may have on families.

She also directs an NCI grant funding the Cancer Research Summer Internships for Medical Students. This program supports medical students to work in cancer research labs during the summer. It also provides a summer cancer lecture series for the students and travel scholarships for interns to attend scientific meetings.

Dr. Gregory's research interests are in the area of cancer genetics education and focus on students, teachers, health care professionals and the public. Analysis of the educational efficacy of on-line materials is another focus. She also collaborates with family therapy faculty in studies designed to measure family stress and distress associated with the genetic counseling and cancer predisposition gene testing experiences.

L. Lee Hamm, M.D. serves as Associate Director for the MS-CR Program. Dr. Hamm is Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Section of Nephrology and Hypertension, Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine, and Director of the recently established Tulane Hypertension and Renal Center of Excellence. He is an established, productive scientist who is involved in both basic investigation and clinical studies. He has been funded by the NIH for many years, and also by the VA and the American Heart Association. He has received many awards for his work including a Merit Award from the NIH, an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, and membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He currently belongs to the Nephrology Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine. As listed elsewhere, he has published widely and has trained many academic physicians, several with ongoing NIH support.