A West Chester pediatric cancer specialist has been tapped as the new CEO of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
E. Anders Kolb, of West Chester, took over as president and CEO of the organization May 1.
A Philadelphia-area children’s blood cancer specialist has been tapped to lead the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a New York-based nonprofit that funds global cancer research.
E. Anders Kolb, of West Chester, took over as president and CEO of the organization on May 1. He most recently worked as the chief of the division of hematology and oncology at Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley. He will remain a faculty emeritus at Nemours with scaled-back patient responsibilities.
As CEO, Kolb hopes to drive more funding and research to blood cancer treatments for children, which typically includes chemotherapy and other strong drugs that were not designed for such small patients.
Children diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, the most common type, have a five-year survival rate of 90%, according to the American Cancer Society. But a similarly high percentage of children (80%) later develop chronic health conditions related to their treatment.
In 2022, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society launched an international clinical trial to test leukemia treatment that is specifically designed for children and tailored to their tumor type.
The trial is the centerpiece of the organization’s Dare to Dream campaign, among its largest new initiatives in recent years, Kolb said.
“In five years, we’re going to see this has fundamentally changed the way children with leukemia are treated,” he said.
International clinical trials are challenging because they require bringing together regulatory authorities with varying rules. Kolb said he hopes the trial will not only yield new treatment for pediatric blood cancer patients, but pave a path for future international research collaboration.
“We are creating the next generation of clinician scientists,” Kolb said.
His passion for advancing blood cancer research is personal: Kolb began volunteering with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society about 15 years ago, when his wife was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. At least three of her treatments stemmed from research funded by the organization, he said.
The cancer has returned a few times since her diagnosis, but she is doing well now, Kolb said.
“We’re ready for what’s next to come,” he said.