Dr. Emil Frei III is one of the world's leading oncologists, a pioneer of chemotherapy and a leader in medical research, clinical practice and education. His distinguished career includes 40 years in top leadership positions. He served as Chief of Medicine at National Cancer Institute, Associate Scientific Director at M. D. Anderson, and Director and Physician-in-Chief at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He continues as Physician-in-Chief, Emeritus, at Dana-Farber.
He has been a major contributor to the successful application of chemotherapy, particularly the use of chemotherapeutic agents in combination for acute leukemia in children and in Hodgkin’s disease and chemotherapy following surgical removal of the primary tumor in patients with the more common tumors including breast cancer and osteosarcoma. He produced major therapeutic advances in head and neck cancers. He has been particularly effective in applying the sciences of pharmacology, toxicology, clinical trial design and cytokinetics. Tens of thousands of patients have been cured by these treatments.
His contributions have been acknowledged by numerous awards including the Albert Lasker Award, the Kettering Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation and most recently the Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for Cancer Research.
Dr. Frei's career in medicine began in 1948 after participating in the country's V-12 program of the Navy. He served in both WW II and the Korean War as a general physician including time on the battlefield. He then served at the National Institutes of Health in the National Cancer Institute division as Chief of Medicine and was principal investigator in the leukemia research program.
He has been an industry leader, serving as past president of American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) clinical research group. He has also served on the advisory or director boards of numerous companies and non-profit organizations, including Adherex Technologies, Angstrom, CaP Cure, Celator Pharmaceuticals, DIAD Research, Immunogen, Vion Pharmaceuticals, Aid for Cancer Research, Cancer Research Institute, Journal of Clinical Oncology and the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Frei has been a leader in medical education, serving as Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas from 1965-1972 and at Harvard Medical School from 1972-1996. He holds the chair of the Richard and Susan Smith Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Harvard. He has directed the education of over 300 oncologists, many of whom have become today's top leaders and researchers, and has lectured to thousands. Together with Dr. James Holland, Dr. Frei co-authored the first text in medical oncology, Cancer Medicine, the seventh edition of which is primary standard text of the field.
Dr. Frei has made Las Vegas his home with his family since 2004 and already has close ties to the community. He serves on the chapter board of the Southern Nevada Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which will host the inaugural Dr. Emil Frei III Symposium in March 2007. He also previously worked with current Nevada Cancer Institute Director Nicholas Vogelzang, M.D., on the CALGB clinical research group, of which Dr. Frei was Chairman at the time.
He lives next door to his stepson and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Kathryn Brock, and their four children. Kathryn Brock was born in raised in Las Vegas and her grandfather, Frank Scott, was one of the first economic development visionaries for the city. Stephen Brock is founder and CEO of Public Company Management Corporation (PCMC) and former President of the Nevada Business Journal. Dr. Frei chairs the medical and life sciences screening committee for PCMC.
Retired from full-time practice, Dr. Frei now lectures, writes and offers consulting services in areas including grant applications and reviews, clinical trials, industry collaboration and management advice.
