(SALT LAKE CITY) – Michael W. Deininger, M.D., Ph.D., an expert in the treatment and biology of leukemia, has been named chief of the Division of Hematology in the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Deininger comes to the University from the Oregon Health and Science University, located in Portland, where he was associate professor and head of the Section for Hematologic Malignancies. He brings extensive experience treating patients with blood cancers, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of blood cancers related to leukemia.
As division chief, Deininger, also a professor of internal medicine, wants the hematology division to become an internationally regarded center for leukemia and lymphoma treatment and research. “Our mission as an academic center is to make sure all our patients benefit from the latest progress in cancer research,” Deininger said. “Fortunately, we can rely on a team of experienced leukemia and lymphoma clinicians, and we will add strength to this as we build our programs.”
In addition to treating patients, Deininger is intensely involved in researching the molecular biology of leukemia, with the goal of developing new and more effective therapies with fewer side effects. He has published more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals, contributed to a number of books, and serves as a peer reviewer for major journals in his field.
Fluent in Russian, German, and English, Deininger received his medical degree from the Wuerzburg University Medical School in Germany and trained in hematology, oncology, and bone marrow transplantation at Nuremberg General Hospital and the University of Leipzig. He received his Ph.D. in leukemia biology from Imperial College in London.