School of Medicine

News and Publications

 August 4, 2006
Contact: Kathy Fitzgerald
(313) 577-1429

Dr. Michael L. Cher

Dean Robert M. Mentzer, Jr., has appointed   Dr. Michael L. Cher as Chair of the Department of Urology of the Wayne State University School of Medicine. The appointment is effective September 1, 2006.

Dr. Cher, who has served as Interim Chair of Urology since January, has shown outstanding leadership both as an administrator and as a surgeon-scientist. A Professor of Urology, Pathology, and the Cancer Institute, and holder of the Donald J. Jaffar Endowed Urology Research Chair, Dr. Cher is internationally known for work in prostate cancer research and his clinical activities in urologic oncology.

Dr. Cher came to WSU in 1995, after completing a fellowship in Urologic Oncology and Molecular Cytogentics at the University of California, San Francisco. He immediately established a laboratory at WSU investigating the genetic and biologic basis for the development and progression of urologic tumors, including prostate cancer. He is now recognized internationally for his research into the biology of prostate cancer bone metastasis. His high level of productivity and promise has resulted in several NIH grants as well as the Department of Defense including WSU among an elite group of 13 universities as part of the “Manhattan Project of Prostate Cancer.” The $10 million research program combines the expertise of renowned scientists in the quest to promote collaborative research with the goal to eradicate the lethal forms of prostate cancer.

Dr. Cher's research focuses primarily on dissecting the interactions between prostate cancer and bone. His work aims to explain why prostate cancer favors the bone microenvironment and to develop new treatments for bone metastasis based on biologically-defined targets. In addition to its high clinical value in treating a deadly disease, this work has contributed immensely to an important area of research focus at the School of Medicine. As a critical member of the School's comprehensive prostate cancer program, his investigative collaborations are both interdisciplinary and broad in scope.

Dr. Cher is Chief of Urology at the Karmanos Cancer Center. He manages all aspects of urologic oncology and has a special interest in minimally invasive treatments for urologic cancers including laparoscopic and image-based approaches. Dr. Cher has been a recipient of the WSU Career Development Chair Award and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute President's Achievement Award for Clinical/Translational research, among his many honors and awards. He has also served on multiple NIH grant review panels. His record of academic achievement and scholarship is exceptional.

"I am very pleased that Michael Cher has taken the leadership role in Urology," said Dean Mentzer. "His academic and scientific credentials are exceptional and I am confident he will take great strides in moving the department productivity forward."

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