Jessica Kandel

Jessica Kandel, MD is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Institute of Cancer Genetics at Columbia University in New York. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yale University in 1981, and completed her MD at Columbia University 1985. She then went on to a General Surgery residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (1986-1993). During her residency, Dr. Kandel completed a two-year surgical research fellowship with Dr. Judah Folkman at the Boston Children's Hospital, investigating mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis (new blood vessel development that “feeds” tumors).

Dr. Kandel joined Columbia University in 1995, becoming the Director of the Charles Edison Laboratory for Pediatric Surgical Research in 2000 and, in 2001, co-organized the first Columbia University Arden House Symposium on Angiogenesis. Dr. Kandel was a founding member of the Vascular Anomalies Group at Columbia, a multidisciplinary team treating children with vascular malformations, hemangioma, lymphatic tumors, and other disorders of vessel development.

Research

 * In 1998, Dr. Jessica Kandel, Dr. Darrell Yamashiro, and colleagues at the Pediatric Tumor Biology Laboratory were the first to describe the way experimental pediatric tumor growth could be suppressed by blocking a molecule called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, or VEGF, from performing its natural job. Their laboratory research provided key preclinical data about an antibody to VEGF, which is the basis of the drug now called Avastin. Approved by the FDA in 2004 for adults with colorectal cancer, Avastin is now gaining use in the treatment of lung and breast cancer. (healthpoints 2006).
 * Dr. Kandel's current focus in the laboratory is to understand how tumors adapt to blockade of VEGF. Understanding how tumors adapt to blockade of VEGF may play an important role in the development of therapies for children with resistant cancers such as neuroblastoma, Wilms tumor, and hepatoblastoma (healthpoints 2006).

Honors

 * Elected, American Surgical Association, 2007
 * Society for University Surgeons, 2005
 * Harold and Golden Lamport Award for Clinical Research, Columbia University, May 2003
 * Visiting Professor, Japanese Society for Pediatric Oncology, November 2003
 * American Academy of Pediatrics Surgical Section Prize, "Combination Anti-Angiogenic Therapy," Oct. 2000

Selected Publications

 * Multiple Cutaneous Infantile Hemangiomas Associated With Hepatic Angiosarcoma: Case Report and Review of the Literature. Kristin M. Nord, Jessica J. Kandel, Jay H. Lefkowitch, et al. PEDIATRICS Vol. 118. Sept. 2006.
 * TNP-470 promotes initial vascular sprouting in xenograft tumors. Jianzhong Huang, Jason S. Frischer, Jessica J. Kandel, et al. Mol Cancer Ther. Mar. 2004.
 * Biomolecular markers and involution of hemangiomas. Jason S. Frischer, Jianzhong Huang, Jessica J. Kandel, et al. J Pediatr Surg. Mar. 2004.
 * Antiangiogenic therapy for the treatment of pediatric solid malignancies. Andrew M. Davidoff and Jessica J. Kandel. Semin Pediatr Surg. Feb. 2004.