Eugenie S. Kleinerman, M.D.

Eugenie S. Kleinerman, MD is Professor of the Division of Pediatrics, and Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program. She is board certified in pediatrics, holds the Mary V. and John A. Reilly Distinguished Chair and is also a Professor of Cancer Biology. A native of Cleveland, OH, Dr. Kleinerman received her BA degree from Washington University in St. Louis, her medical degree from Duke University, then completed her pediatric residency at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC and her fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. She was a Senior Investigator at the NCI-Frederick Cancer Research facility for 3 years before being recruited to MD Anderson in 1984. Dr. Kleinerman rose through the ranks from Assistant Professor to Professor. She served as Division Head of the Division of Pediatrics from 2001 to February 9, 2015,the first women Division Head at MD Anderson.

Dr. Kleinerman is internationally recognized for her scientific and clinical expertise in sarcomas, particularly osteosarcoma (OS). She pioneered the use of a unique immunotherapy agent liposome-encapsulated MTP-PE, for children with unresponsive relapsed osteosarcoma lung metastases. Her phase II clinical trials done at MD Anderson demonstrated that liposomal MTP-PE therapy activated the tumoricidal properties of macrophages, prolonged disease-free survival and could be combined with chemotherapy. The success of these trials led to a national phase III trial sponsored by the Children’s Oncology Group. Newly diagnosed osteosarcoma patients treated with liposomal MTP-PE plus chemotherapy has a 30% reduction in mortality rate compared to the patients that received chemotherapy alone. This demonstration of efficacy led to the approval of liposomal MTP-PE by the European Medicine Agency, which is now part of the Standard of care in the U.L., Italy, Israel and Turkey. MTP-PE is available in 27 countries in the European Union. Dr. Kleinerman’s pioneering use of this immunotherapeutic agent in children with osteosarcoma resulted in the first improvement in long term survival of children with this disease in over 25 years.

Dr. Kleinerman’s laboratory research has also focused on understanding the mechanisms involved in osteosarcoma metastasis to the lung. Her investigations demonstrate that tumor Fas expression and the Fas/FasL pathway play a critical role in the metastatic potential of osteosarcoma cells and that this pathway can be targeted for therapeutic benefit. She is the first to show that a unique micro-RNA controls fas expression in OS cells. She is also the first to show that Ewing ’s tumor vessels are formed by both local endothelial cells and bone marrow cells that have migrated to the tumor and differentiated into endothelial cells and pericytes. She is the first to show that DLL4 and the NOTCH signaling pathway controls this differentiation process. Most recently her research has focused on using NK cell therapy with aerosol IL-2 against OS lung metastases. Dr. Kleinerman’s research program has been funded by the NCI for over 22 years.

Dr. Kleinerman has served on numerous NCI study sections and was a prior member of an FDA advisory panel. She has authored >170 articles and 21 book chapters. She is the editor of the book "Current Advances in Osteosarcoma" published in 2014.She has mentored numerous graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, MD/PhD students, and physician-scientists. She has worked to promote women and women’s issues in academic medicine. In 2006, her achievements were recognized by her alma mater, Duke University Medical Center, where she received the Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award. She was the recipient of the MD Anderson's Faculty Achievement Award in Clinical Research in 2009; the Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University in 2010; the Outstanding Women in Texas Government Award in 2010 and inducted into the Greater Houston Women's Hall of Fame in 2011.