Dr. Laurence H. Baker

Laurence H. Baker, DO, is Professor of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology, Departments of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School.

He received his medical degree from the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery at Des Moines, IA, in 1966. After receiving his degree, he did a medical residency at Detroit Osteopathic Hospital which was followed by an oncology fellowship at Wayne State University. He joined the faculty of the Department of Oncology at Wayne State University upon completion of his fellowship in 1972.

In 1987 Dr. Baker became the Director of the Meyer L. Prentis Comprehensive Cancer Center of Metropolitan Detroit where he remained until his recruitment to the University of Michigan in 1994. He served as the Deputy Director and Director for Clinical Research at the University of Michigan until May, 2004.

Dr. Baker has 30 years’ experience in the treatment of sarcoma and design of clinical trials for new sarcoma therapies. In April, 2005, he became Chairman of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), the largest cancer clinical trials organization in the world after election by the membership. SWOG’s membership lists nearly 4,000 of the nation’s leading physicians and scientists at 283 institutions in the United States and Canada. Dr. Baker has served as the Executive Director of SARC (Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration), a not-for-profit consortium which advocates for sarcoma medical research and for the conduct of clinical trials studying new treatment for sarcoma. He is a scientific consultant to the National Cancer Institute and several universities, a member of many prestigious organizations, and a nationally recognized expert in sarcoma treatment. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed literature and has authored or co-authored 50 books and/or book chapters, and is regularly invited to speak as a guest lecturer both at the national and international level.

Dr. Baker joined the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative's Medical Advisory and Editorial Board in June 2006. He has published an enlightening ESUN article about chemotherapy entitled "A Rose is a Rose or a Thorn is a Thorn." After years of active service, Dr. Baker accepted an appointment as an Honorary Board Member in December 2011.

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