Frank’s Path to Advancing Hematology Through Innovation and Discovery: With Girindra Raval, MD; and David A. Frank, MD, PhD, FACP

Cancer, Character, and Calling: The Oncologist's Journey, hosted by Girindra Raval, MD, is a podcast highlighting how top oncologists have navigated the field over the course of their careers, the passion that drove them to enter the oncology space, and the ongoing work that will continue to transform cancer care. Each episode, Raval will sit down with a top oncologist to dive into their background, highlight their career achievements, discuss key issues still being addressed in their field, and explore their interests outside of the clinic and lab.

In this episode, Raval welcomed David A. Frank, MD, PhD, FACP, who is director of the Division of Hematology and a professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. He also serves as director of the Winship Innovation Initiative and as an advisor to the Morningside Center for Innovative and Affordable Medicine within the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.

Their conversation traced Frank’s journey from his early life in Brooklyn, New York, through his education at Stuyvesant High School, undergraduate studies at MIT, and completion of an MD/PhD program at Yale University. Frank reflected on his decision to pursue medicine following a formative family experience, his early attraction to oncology’s dual challenges of addressing unmet patient needs and developing more precise therapies, and his contributions to hematologic malignancy research during his tenure at Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and now at Emory Winship Cancer Institute. They also examined the transformation of hematology from the cytotoxic drug era to the advent of targeted therapies, and Frank shared his perspective on the next frontiers in research and patient care.