Doing Our Best for Cancer - All for One, and One for All: Dr. Tony Blau at TEDxTacoma

Dr. Tony Blau is a Professor in the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington (UW). Originally from Ohio, Blau was drawn to Seattle because of its legacy as the birthplace of bone marrow transplantation, an intense form of leukemia treatment, and the first stem cell therapy.

Dr. Blau specializes in orchestrating collaborations across disparate scientific disciplines toward grand goals. As a physician-scientist and husband of a busy community oncologist, he came to believe that our approach to cancer needs to be fundamentally restructured, and for this reason founded the UW's Center for Cancer Innovation (CCI). Grounded in the belief that a single patient can teach us a great deal about cancer, CCI applies the latest scientific knowledge to the treatment of today's cancer patients while using their experiences to benefit all cancer patients tomorrow. CCI recently launched its first clinical trial in an aggressive form of breast cancer called "triple-negative" breast cancer. CCI is a grass-roots "coalition of the willing," comprised of nearly 100 community and academic oncologists, scientists, computational biologists, and other specialists from six different organizations, and owes much of its success to support from the South Sound region.

Dr. Blau has served on numerous advisory panels for the National Institutes of Health. He received his medical degree from Ohio State University and completed his residency in internal medicine at Duke University.

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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)