Internationally Renowned Breast Cancer and HIV-Associated Malignancy Expert to Join Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai Health System has recruited an internationally recognized expert in the management of breast cancer and HIV-associated malignancies, Joseph A. Sparano, MD, FACP, as Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Deputy Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI). Dr. Sparano will also hold the Ezra M. Greenspan, MD Professorship in Clinical Cancer Therapeutics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and will oversee the expansion of clinical and research capacities of the Division and TCI.

“Dr. Sparano brings a wealth of experience in clinical, research, and educational excellence,” said Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute, Chair of Oncological Sciences, and Ward-Coleman Chair in Cancer Research at Icahn Mount Sinai. “He will be instrumental in expanding Mount Sinai’s footprint in cancer advancements, fostering our mission of providing superior cancer care with special attention to equity, and guiding the institution’s progress toward National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center status, the highest designation granted to a cancer center by the NCI.”

Dr. Sparano will maintain an active clinical practice at Mount Sinai. He joins TCI following a distinguished 33-year career at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, where he was Professor of Medicine, and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health; Associate Chairman for Clinical Research in the Department of Oncology; and Associate Director for Clinical Research at the Albert Einstein Cancer Center. He served as Chief of the Section of Breast Medical Oncology since 1995 and Associate Chairman of Medical Oncology since 2001.

Dr. Sparano led a breakthrough clinical trial in breast cancer research, the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment (Rx), known as TAILORx—the first and largest NCI precision medicine trial. The trial led to changes in treatment guidelines from both the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. TAILORx results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2015, 2018, and 2019

Dr. Sparano has also conducted impactful studies aimed at improving the outcomes of HIV‐positive patients with cancer, including research on novel approaches for treating non‐Hodgkin lymphoma and anal cancer in individuals with HIV. He has also focused his research on improving racial disparities in cancer care and on cancer metastasis.

Dr. Sparano is Chair and Principal Investigator of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, serves as Deputy Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, and is a member of the Board of Managers of the PreECOG Research Foundation and the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group Steering Committee.

Dr. Sparano has received some of the most prestigious awards in the field of medical oncology, including the ECOG Young Investigator Award, the Charles Moertel Award and Lecture by the Alliance for Cancer Clinical Trials, the American Association for Cancer Research William L. McGuire Award and Lecture, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gianni Bonadonna Award and Lecture.

He is a graduate of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education at the City College of New York, a program that included education at Mount Sinai and New York Medical College. He completed internship and residency training in Internal Medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center of New York and a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Albert Einstein Cancer Center and Montefiore Medical Center.