Internationally recognized cancer expert joins UCI Health as cancer center deputy director

Internationally recognized cancer expert joins UCI Health as cancer center deputy director

Dr. Miguel A. Villalona-Calero brings expertise in genomic-driven therapies, novel uses of the immune system to target cancer

Orange, Calif. - Internationally recognized cancer expert Dr. Miguel A. Villalona-Calero has joined the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center as its deputy director and chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine.

"Dr. Villalona-Calero brings a wealth of experience in designing new, more effective anticancer agents and translating breakthroughs in the laboratory into clinical trials," said Dr. Richard A. Van Etten, director of the cancer center and UC Irvine associate vice chancellor for cancer.

As division chief, Villalona-Calero leads a clinical division of more than 70 oncologists and hematologists, including nationally known specialists in the many different forms of cancer.

"His expertise in genomic-driven therapies to repair cellular deficiencies in DNA as well as novel ways to use the immune system to target cancer will be instrumental in our efforts to deliver the most advanced care to our patients in Orange County and beyond," said Van Etten, the Chao Family Endowed Director's Chair in Cancer Research & Treatment and a professor of medicine and biological chemistry.

Villalona-Calero's appointment comes as the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Orange County opens its second clinical hub in Irvine, reimagining cancer care and effectively tripling its ability to deliver leading-edge therapies to patients throughout the region.

Advancing the standard of care

The new Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in Irvine, one of most advanced facilities of its kind on the West Coast, will also expand access to vital clinical trials, especially early phase studies that aim to advance the standard of care for a broad range of cancers.

"I am very excited to be a part of the University of California, Irvine family," said Villalona-Calero, who joined the cancer center on July 8.

"And I'm extremely impressed with the remarkable investment made by UC Irvine, UCI Health and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to provide the best clinical care and access to novel treatments to patients afflicted with cancer in Orange County and the region."

Villalona-Calero, who most recently served as director of an early phase therapeutics program at City of Hope in Duarte, is internationally regarded for his expertise in lung cancer and developmental therapeutics. He is a fellow of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American College of Physicians.

A path chosen early

The son of a school teacher and a customs inspector in the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo, Villalona-Calero was just 4 years old when his older brother fell ill during his country's violent civil war in 1965. The courageous pediatrician who braved bullets to come to their home and care for his brother so impressed him that, then and there, he decided to become a doctor, he recalled in a 2021 interview.

His lifelong commitment to finding cures for cancer was similarly shaped in middle school after witnessing the suffering of a classmate fighting a deadly form of bone cancer.

Villalona-Calero graduated magna cum laude with a medical degree from Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena in the Dominican Republic. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Kings County Hospital Center and the State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn, New York, followed by fellowships in medical oncology at the University of Minnesota Hospitals & Clinics in Minneapolis, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.

Working at the molecular level

Villalona-Calero's impressive credentials also include fellowship training in drug development at the Institute for Drug Development at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, followed by a fellowship in health policy leadership at New York University's Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in New York City.

Before joining City of Hope in 2020, he served as deputy director and chief scientific officer at the Miami Cancer Institute in Florida and associate director of translation research at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he also was director of the Division of Medical Oncology.

Villalona-Calero has led dozens of clinical trials including two early phase studies funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore the use of enhanced natural killer cells to treat non-small cell lung cancer and molecular and clinical pharmacodynamic trials. He also is the author or co-author of more than 140 peer-reviewed publications.

The novel phase 1 clinical trial on the use of enhanced natural killer cells to treat non-small cell lung cancer is part of a prestigious NCI and NIH R01 grant for developmental cell therapeutics.

"A lot of work still needs to be done, as cancer has a way of humbling all of us," Villalona-Calero noted. "However, I am very hopeful that novel treatments and comprehensive multidisciplinary care offered at our Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center will save and improve the duration and quality of many lives."

Related stories

• Reimagining cancer care for Orange County and beyond ›
• Revolutionizing CT imaging with advanced photon-counting scanner ›
• First patients welcomed at new Irvine cancer center ›
• Expanding access to novel stem cell therapies ›

About UCI Health

UCI Health, one of California's largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The system comprises its main campus UCI Medical Center, a 459-bed, acute care hospital in Orange, Calif., four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and ambulatory care centers across the region. Recognized as a Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group, UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About UCI Health - Irvine

UCI Health - Irvine is part of UCI Health, Orange County's only academic health system, serving the communities of coastal and south Orange County. It is the nation's first medical campus powered by an all-electric central utilities plant. It is home to the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care, offering the full range of multidisciplinary specialty care for children and adults, urgent care services and the UCI Health Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders. It is also home to The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building. The medical complex will be complete in 2025 with the opening of a seven-story, 144-bed acute care hospital and 24-hour emergency department.