CHARLESTON -- Dr. Melanie Thomas, an expert in gastrointestinal cancers, is the 20th researcher recruited to South Carolina through the state’s Centers of Economic Excellence Program.

Thomas is the first woman appointed as a CoEE endowed chair. CoEE endowed chairs are internationally renowned scientists who direct the research conducted at the centers.

Thomas will lead the CoEE in Gastrointestinal Cancer Diagnostics at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)/Hollings Cancer Center. Gastrointestinal malignancies, or cancers, include those of the stomach, liver, pancreas, colon and elsewhere in the GI tract.

Thomas will develop a clinical trials program for liver cancer and will work with others to develop a research portfolio and clinical trials in other GI cancers within the CoEE.

In addition to her position as a CoEE endowed chair, Thomas will also serve as associate director of clinical investigations for HCC. In this role, she will expand HCC’s clinical trials portfolio across all tumor types and ensure that more cancer patients have access to high-quality clinical trials.

Research within this CoEE will include searching for new targets (proteins that play a role in the disease process and are the intended sites of drug activity) for GI cancer treatment and identifying new ways to screen for GI cancer.

Thomas was recruited from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, where she worked in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology.

Thomas will hold the Grace E. DeWolff Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology at MUSC. She will be an associate professor of medicine in MUSC’s Division of Hematology and Oncology.

The CoEE Program was established in 2002 to help create well-paying jobs and enhanced economic opportunities for South Carolinians through the creation of research centers at the state’s three research universities (Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of South Carolina).

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