Posted on September 10, 2004 at 10:45 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Dr. Albert F. LoBuglio, director of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, has announced he is stepping down from that role, effective October 1. LoBuglio, who holds the Evalina B. Spencer Chair in Oncology, will continue to serve as a Cancer Center faculty member, co-director of its Tumor Immunology Program and advisor to the Cancer Center director. Cancer Center Senior Scientist Peter D. Emanuel, program co-director of the Center’s Experimental Therapeutics Program, will be acting director until a national search is completed.

“After more than two decades of juggling research and administrative roles I am eagerly looking forward to intensifying my focus on tumor immunology research,” said LoBuglio.

LoBuglio has served as director since joining UAB in 1983. During his tenure he fostered tremendous scientific growth and achievement, expanding the Cancer Center’s basic and translational research and clinical services. Today the Center receives more than $100 million in external research funding, including four prestigious SPORE (Specialized Program of Research Excellence) National Cancer Institute grants for cancers of the breast, ovary, prostate and brain, from the. More than 250 UAB physicians and scientists serve as Cancer Center faculty.

UAB President Carol Z. Garrison, Ph.D., said LoBuglio “has had an enormous impact on UAB’s growth and standing in the international scientific and medical communities. He is one of those rare individuals who is a keen administrator, gifted researcher and caring physician. We owe him an immense dept of gratitude for shouldering the administrative load for over two decades, and we’re delighted that he’ll continue to pursue his research here at UAB.” Emanuel is professor in the division of hematology-oncology, with a secondary appointment in the department of biochemistry and molecular genetics. He is associate director of the division of hematology-oncology.

Emanuel received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin. He came to UAB in 1985 and subsequently completed a residency in internal medicine and clinical and post-doctoral research fellowships in the UAB hematology-oncology prior to joining the faculty in 1991. He is nationally recognized as a leader in the research and treatment of leukemia and lymphoma.

Emanuel said of LoBuglio’s tenure as Cancer Center director, “For years Dr. LoBuglio has been teaching and training the Center’s senior leadership and administration, and now it’s time to put his training into action. Because of his strong leadership we are well prepared for this transition.”

LoBuglio is only the second director in the Center’s history; Dr. John Durant was director from 1971 to 1983. An internationally recognized expert in tumor immunology, LoBuglio is a pioneer in the study of monoclonal antibodies for cancer therapy. During his tenure he developed an infrastructure to attract national multi-million dollar cancer research grants, recruited top cancer physician-scientists and developed the Center’s Clinical Trials Unit. Under his leadership, three research floors were added to the Wallace Tumor Institute in 1992.

In the coming months, the Center administration will move into new headquarters in the soon-to-open North Pavilion of University Hospital. This move, also orchestrated by LoBuglio, will create additional research space in the Wallace Tumor Institute.

He also created the Cancer Center Supporters Board, a volunteer group of community leaders who have raised more than $6 million for cancer research and patient assistance.

LoBuglio earned his medical degree from Georgetown School of Medicine and completed his hematology-oncology residency at Presbyterian University Hospital. He served as a research fellow at Harvard Medical School before joining faculty of Ohio State University, where he served as deputy director of the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1973-78. From 1978-1983 he served as director of the division of hematology-oncology and director of the Simpson Memorial Research Institute at the University of Michigan Medical Center.