Dr. Margaret von Mehren

Margaret von Mehren, MD
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dr. Margaret von Mehren was born in New York City, NY, where she received her primary and secondary education. She then matriculated at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where she majored in Biology and minored in Philosophy, and graduated in 1985 with honors. She received her medical degree from Albany Medical College in Albany, NY. Dr. von Mehren completed an internship and residency at New York University Medical Center in New York before moving to Philadelphia for her fellowship in medical oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center and Temple University. After completing fellowship, Dr. von Mehren joined the faculty of the department of Medical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center where she remains today as and Associate Professor and the director of the Sarcoma program. She is a member of the NCCN panel for soft tissue sarcomas and GIST task force, as well as the Intergroup GIST Task force.

Dr. von Mehren entered fellowship with an interest in immunotherapies. She developed and conducted several trials utilizing recombinant vaccines. Her exposure as a fellow to sarcoma oncology however, led her to develop an interest in the care of this diverse patient population. The need for new therapies for this group of patients afforded an opportunity to test novel compounds. Her career has now become focused on sarcoma developmental therapeutics. She has a strong emphasis on agents for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and has served as principal investigator on many trials testing novel tyrosine kinase inhibitors as well as other targeted agents for this disease. She volunteers at the NIH Wild type GIST clinic biannually. She has also led studies testing novel agents for soft tissue sarcomas such as trabectedin. Dr. von Mehren is an active collaborator with basic scientists studying GIST and other sarcomas. The GIST research group at Fox Chase Cancer Center has identified IGF-1R as a potential target for therapy. She is developing trials to evaluate agents targeting this growth factor.