Jeffrey Weitzel, MD, FACMG

Professor, Precision Prevention
jweitzel@kumc.eduProfessional Background
Dr. Weitzel’s expertise spans multiple disciplines. He received board certification in both Medical Oncology and Clinical Genetics/Genomics. Dr. Weitzel created the Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics at City of Hope (COH) in 1996, and was the Director and chief architect of the Cancer Screening andamp; Prevention Program Network. His multidisciplinary clinical, research, and training programs have emphasized translational research and health disparities in genomic cancer risk assessment, chemoprevention, psychosocial and clinical outcomes research, with enhanced focus on Hispanics since 2000. As a leading clinical cancer genomics researcher, Dr. Weitzel has devoted his career to helping people and populations at increased risk for developing cancer because of family history or personal risk factors. Supporting these studies, he established an IRB- approved hereditary cancer research registry, started at Tufts-New England Medical Center and brought to COH in 1997, and using this common protocol developed a collaborative network of 45 community- based oncogenetic practices, the Clinical Cancer Genomics Community Research Network (CCGCRN), to collect biospecimens, family histories, and baseline and longitudinal participant health-related epidemiologic data across diverse settings. The CCGCRN registry constitutes a robust cancer epidemiologic cohort of more than 30,500 participants, many of whom are from low socioeconomic and/or ethnically underrepresented communities, and it has a growing Latin American component. Related work has illuminated the genomic etiology of breast and ovarian cancer and disparities in access to and outcome of care among Hispanics in the US and Latin America. Collaborations were established with numerous consortia (e.g., CIMBA, ENIGMA, PROSE, SIMPLEXO, LiFE), and clinical sites in Latin America, yielding more than 154 peer reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Weitzel has used the CCGCRN registry to discern paternal inheritance, changed NCCN guidelines and assessed BRCA-associated and multiple other cancer gene risks for breast, ovary, pancreatic, lung and prostate cancer. He was PI for projects on genetic cancer risk assessment and social, cognitive and cultural factors associated with cancer screening and prevention behaviors in underrepresented minorities, as well as an American Cancer Society-funded RCT of adapted motivational interviewing as a behavioral intervention to promote uptake of genetic cancer risk assessment among underserved Latinas. He established a clinical research team with bilingual/bicultural research associates and genetic counselors.
Education and Training
- BS, Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
- MD, Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School
- Residency, Internal Medicine , University of Minnesota Hospitals and Clinics, Minneapolis, MN
- Post Doctoral Fellowship, Hematology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Department of Hematology, Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom
- Clinical Fellowship, Genetics, Tufts University, New England Medical Center, Boston, MA
- Clinical Fellowship, Hematology and Oncology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Division of Hematology - Oncology, Boston, MA
Research
Overview
Dr. Weitzel has made important contributions to clinical practice in the treatment of breast cancer. After successful completing pre-clinical research establishing that carboplatin and a PARP inhibitor (Veliparib) could act in a synergistic manner in a BRCA-null setting, Dr. Weitzel translated these results into a successful NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program-sponsored clinical trial (with R21 funding for correlative studies). As a co-investigator in the landmark phase II trials of Olaparib in patients with BRCA-associated breast cancer and ovarian cancer, he helped demonstrate proof of principle for the concept of synthetic lethality as a therapeutic strategy. Dr. Weitzel also developed chemoprevention protocols for individuals at high risk of cancer because of inherited susceptibility mutations. This included a phase II biomarker trial of deslorelin (GnRH agonist), estradiol, and testosterone in women at high risk of breast cancer, which established proof of principle that a hormonal chemoprevention regimen could be used to reduce breast density in BRCA1 carriers without negatively affecting quality of life. He has conducted clinical/translational trials in cancer etiology (Li Fraumeni Syndrome and TP53), clonal hematopoiesis, cancer prevention and techniques for early detection of cancer, including cell-free DNA approaches, predictive genomic testing, and targeted therapeutic protocols such as PARP inhibitors in BRCA-associated cancer. Dr. Weitzel was the principal investigator for the COH Clinical Cancer Genomics Community Research Network, Co-Director for the Cancer Genomics Education Program, and Director of the Cancer Genetics Career Development Program.