Dr. Vladimir Vinnitsky M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., Professor of Oncology at the R.E. Kavetsky Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology (IEPOR) in Kiev, Ukraine and a founder and COO of Sequent Development LLC – preclinical CRO based in the USA. He has more than 35 years history of basic and translational cancer research regarding cancer biology, new drug development and clinical trials.
Dr. Vinnitsky’ professional training and career have been directed toward basic and translational cancer biology research. He received his Medical Doctor degree in 1966 from A.A. Bogomoletz National Medical University in Kiev, Ukraine, his Ph.D. in Oncology in 1971 from the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Oncology in Kiev, Ukraine and Doctor of Medical Sciences (D.Sc.) degree in Oncology in 1982 from the R.E. Kavetsky Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology (IEPOR) in Kiev. He is author of more than 150 scientific articles in peer reviewed scientific journals and three monographs. Dr. Vinnitsky was previously Head of the Department of Cancer Biology (1984-2003) and Deputy Director (1984-1991) of R.E. Kavetsky Institute for Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Kiev – one of the largest cancer research centers in Europe. Although a permanent resident of the U.S., Dr. Vinnitsky retains his position as Professor of oncology and Chief Scientific Consultant at IEPOR. Dr. Vinnitsky is a founder and COO (2003 – present) of Sequent Development pre-clinical CRO based in the United States. His unique position as a member of the senior scientific staff at IEPOR and high level scientific and administrative contacts within some of the most prestigious research Institutions in Eastern Europe have enabled Sequent to establish a number of productive, long-term collaborations. Over the last decade, Dr. Vinnitsky’ professional efforts have been directed toward establishing of GLP-certified research facilities in Kiev, Ukraine. On April 2004, the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology (Kiev, Ukraine) facilities were confirmed through independent audit as fully compliant with ICH and GLP guidelines for the conduct of preclinical research. It is the first laboratory in the former Soviet Union to achieve this status.
Dr. Vinnitsky has been influential in both laboratory and clinical studies of the neuroendocrine-immune pathway from stress to cancer and of the utility of common embryo and cancer biomarkers for targeted cancer treatment. He has received international recognition for the discovering of functional links between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system and natural immunity to cancer. Dr. Vinnitsky elaborated the theory of tumor-associated immunosuppresion caused by HPA axis dysfunction. He and colleagues published the first reports concerning the ability to suppress or prevent development of experimental cancers by the pharmacological optimization of the HPA status as well as by direct electrical stimulation of the hypothalamic structures, involved in the regulation of the immune response. Dr. Vinnitsky has been a principal investigator on the study of the role of the haemostatic factors, proteolytic enzymes and VEGF in tumor growth and metastasis. He has also been a leader on the project that evaluated the role of endocrine status in prognosis, prediction and prevention of breast cancer in girls-teenagers residents of town Pripyat (located within the 30-km exclusion zone around Chernobyl nuclear power plant), evacuated after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April-May 1986”.
Dr. Vinnitsky has been a leader in comparative study of common embryonic and tumor markers, which are responsible for biological and behavioral similarities between cancer cells and embryonic cells. He has been a principal investigator on the development and testing the efficacy of anti-cancer vaccines based on common embryonic and tumor antigens. Dr. Vinnitsky has developed the Oncogerminative Theory of Cancer, which postulates tumor development as dynamic self-organizing process that mimics a self-organizing process of early embryo development. He considers cancer to be a phenomenon of developmental biology, which he has termed as a “Desperate Asexual Self-Cloning Event”.
Reflecting his expertise, Dr. Vinnitsky has been a member of the International Society for NeuroImmunoModulation (ISNIM), member of the International Academy of Tumor Marker Oncology (IATMO), Vice-Chairman of the Joint Committee on Medicine, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Health; Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Oncology at Ministry of Health, Ukraine. Dr. Vinnitsky has been a visiting professor at numerous universities, including UCLA, UCSD, UTMB, and has given many invited lectures at multiple International Scientific meetings. He has been Organizer, President and Chairman of the 7th International Conference on Human Tumor Markers, Kiev, Ukraine (1990).