Phone: (215) 614-0984
Address: 833 West Gates Building 3400 Spruce Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283

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Dr. Dainel Sterman has a long list of medical distinctions. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Professor of Medicine in Surgery, and the Director of the PENN Interventional Pulmonology Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally he is Clinical Director of the Thoracic Oncology Gene Therapy Program of the Center for Lung Cancer and Related Disorders.

Educational Background

In 1989, Dr. Sterman received his MD from Cornell University Medical College. Following graduation, he pursued an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 1989-1992. Subsequently, he held an instructorship in Emergency Medicine, also at HUP from 1992-93. In 1997, his fellowship training was completed at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. His studies led him to a specialty in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. During his fellowship, Dr. Sterman received advanced training in Interventional Bronchoscopy and Pleuroscopy. He continued his education as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Thoracic Oncology Research Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.

After spending two years in the Thoracic Oncology Laboratories, Dr. Sterman joined the staff at PENN in 1997 as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Pulmonary Division. He later was the recipient of the prestigious National Institute of Health Clinical Associate Physician Award. Dr. Sterman is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine.

With all of his distinctions and guidance, Dr. Sterman has thorough training in the following techniques:

Flexible and rigid bronchoscopy
Balloon bronchoplasty
Endobronchial stent placement (metal, hybrid, and silicone)
Endobronchial brachytherapy
Photodynamic therapy
Auto-fluorescence bronchoscopy (LIFE)
Transbronchial needle aspiration/biopsy
Bronchoscopic electrosurgery (including APC)
Endobronchial ultrasound (radial and convex probe)
Percutaneous tracheotomy
Pleuroscopy
Mesothelioma Research and Clinical Interests

Dr. Sterman has specific clinical research interests related to the treatment of thoracic malignancies, specifically as they apply to the synergy of molecular medicine and novel technologies in Interventional Pulmonology. As part of his research and affiliation to the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Sterman has had the change to conduct several human clinical trials. Some of these trials include experiments regarding gene therapy and vaccine therapy for lung cancer, mesothelioma and other pleural malignancies.

Dr. Sterman is also the lead clinical investigator in the multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Research Group at Penn and has been the Principal Investigator of Project 1, (Clinical Trials Project) for the National Cancer Institute Program Project grant since 1998.

Currently, Dr. Sterman is the sponsor and principal Investigator of the ongoing Ad.IFN-beta gene therapy trial. This clinical trial is aimed at cancer patients with mesothelioma and metastatic pleural disease. Additionally, he has led a number of other trials focused on the concept of genetic immunotherapy for thoracic malignancies such as mesothelioma.

Also, Dr. Sterman and colleagues will be initiating a multicenter Phase I trial of intravenous delivery of a recombinant, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes bacterial vector expressing the gene for human Mesothelin, a cell surface protein expressed in nearly 100% of mesotheliomas.

Publications

Dr. Sterman has been involved in several published journals and articles relating to his specialty of mesothelioma. Some of these include:

Sterman DH, Treat J, Litzky LA, Amin KM, Coonrod L, Knox L, Recio A, Molnar-Kimber K, Wilson JM, Albelda SM, Kaiser LR Adenovirus-mediated herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene delivery in patients with localized malignancy: Results of a phase 1 clinical trial in malignant mesothelioma. Human Gene Therapy, 1998, 9(7), 1083-1092.
Molnar-Kimber KL, Sterman DH, Chang M, Elbash M, Elshami A, Roberts JR, Treat J, Wilson JM, Kaiser LR, Albelda SM. Humoral and cellular immune responses induced by adenoviral-based gene therapy for localized malignancy: Results of a phase 1 clinical trial for malignant mesothelioma. Human Gene Therapy, 9: 2121-2133, 1998.
Benard, F., Sterman, D.H., Smith, R.J., Kaiser, L.R., Albelda, S.M., Alavi, A. Metabolic imaging of malignant pleural mesothelioma with fluorine-18-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Chest, 114: 713-722, 1998.
Sterman, D.H., Kaiser, L.R., Albelda, S.M. Advances in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.Chest, 116: 504-520, 1999.
Albelda SM, Wiewrodt R, Sterman DH. Gene Therapy for Lung Neoplasms. Clinics in Chest Medicine, 23(1), 265-277, 2002.
Pecora AL, Rizvi N, Cohen GI, Meropol NJ, Sterman D, Marshall JL, Goldberg S, Gross P, O’Neil JD, Groene WS, Roberts MS, Rabin H, Bamat MK, Lorence RM. Phase I trial of intravenous administration of PV701, an oncolytic virus, in patients with advanced solid cancers. J Clin Oncol. 2002 May 1;20(9):2251-66.
Nemunaitis J, Sterman D, Jablons D, Smith JW 2nd, Fox B, Maples P, Hamilton S, Borellini F, Lin A, Morali S, Hege K. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene-modified autologous tumor vaccines in non-small-cell lung cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004 Feb 18;96(4):326-31.
Musani AI, Haas AR, Seijo L, Wilby M, Sterman DH. Outpatient management of malignant pleural effusions with small-bore, tunneled pleural catheters. Respiration. 2004 Nov-Dec;71(6):559-66.
Sterman DH, Albelda SM. Advances in the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Respirology. 2005 Jun;10(3):266-83.
Sterman DH. Gene therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2005 Dec;19(6):1147-73, viii.
Nemunaitis J, Jahan T, Ross H, Sterman D, Richards D, Fox B, Jablons D, Aimi J, Lin A, Hege K. Phase 1/2 trial of autologous tumor mixed with an allogeneic GVAX vaccine in advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer. Cancer Gene Ther. 2006 Jun;13(6):555-62.
Vachani A, Sterman DH, Albelda SM. Cytokine gene therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Thorac Oncol. 2007 Apr;2(4):265-7.
Sterman DH, Recio A, Carroll RG, Gillespie CT, Haas A, Vachani A, Kapoor V, Sun J, Hodinka R, Brown JL, Corbley MJ, Parr M, Ho M, Pastan I, Machuzak M, Benedict W, Zhang XQ, Lord EM, Litzky LA, Heitjan DF, June CH, Kaiser LR, Vonderheide RH, Albelda SM. A phase I clinical trial of single-dose intrapleural IFN-beta gene transfer for malignant pleural mesothelioma and metastatic pleural effusions: high rate of antitumor immune responses. Clin Cancer Res. 2007 Aug 1;13(15 Pt 1):4456-66.

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