New chief of Hematology & Oncology announced

Craig Lockhart, M.D., has been recruited as the new chief of the Division of Hematology & Oncology in the Department of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina and will serve as associate director for clinical science at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, effective April 1.

Lockhart currently holds several roles at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center (UM SCCC), including chief of the Division of Oncology and associate director for regional and strategic research affiliations. His research specialty is gastrointestinal cancers, and he has been a principal investigator on more than 100 Phase I/II and III trials.

“We are excited to have Dr. Lockhart join our team,” said Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the College of Medicine and director of Hollings. “I believe that he brings the skills to build upon our existing strengths and significantly enhance and elevate our Hematology & Oncology division along with building clinical trials efforts at Hollings Cancer Center.”

Lockhart has a strong track record of building and growing a successful oncology division while also supporting research and scholarship. He currently serves as chief of service for oncology as part of the University of Miami Medical Group, where he works to encourage a patient-centric approach, overseeing and maintaining quality of care standards and developing standardized and evidence-based treatment guidelines.

In his role as clinical service leader for the oncology service line, he has facilitated recruitment and retention efforts for physicians in the UM SCCC network and created efficient, multidisciplinary care models for both standard of care and research care at the main campus and at all satellite locations.

“We are excited to have Dr. Lockhart join our team. I believe that he brings the skills to build upon our existing strengths and significantly enhance and elevate our Hematology & Oncology division along with building clinical trials efforts at Hollings Cancer Center.”
— Dr. Raymond N. DuBois

As associate director for regional and strategic research affiliations, he has been instrumental in building clinical research at current and future satellite locations along with establishing new collaborative efforts with local and/or national partners.

Prior to joining the University of Miami, Lockhart served on faculty and in leadership roles at Washington University and Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis and at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville.

Lockhart has been conducting early-phase clinical trials for more than 20 years. His specific research interests are developing and conducting Phase I/II clinical trials of novel therapeutics applied to gastrointestinal cancers. In treating these cancers, he aims to incorporate novel agents or molecular/genetic-based treatments into therapeutic trials in the pursuit of personalized cancer care.

He has developed and led multi-institutional clinical trials involving the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors through national cooperative groups as well as investigator-initiated studies. He has been an investigator and co-investigator on individual grants, on successful National Cancer Institute Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant applications and on successful multi-institutional UM1 grant applications.

Lockhart has also served on several committees for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), including the scientific and career development committees. He has been a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines committee for gastric and esophageal cancers. He also serves as faculty at the ASCO/American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop, mentoring fellows and junior faculty on the development of gastrointestinal cancer therapeutic protocols.

Lockhart graduated from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas in 1993. He completed residency training at Barnes Hospital at Washington University, fellowship training in hematology/oncology at Duke University and a fellowship in drug development at GlaxoSmithKline in the North Carolina Research Triangle Park. He also earned a Master of Health Science degree in clinical trials at Duke University. He completed his undergraduate degree, a bachelor’s in biology, at Rice University.

Lockhart will be replacing interim chief Michael Lilly, M.D., and will be working both on campus and remotely until he transitions to campus full time in September. The search committee for this position was chaired by Michelle Hudspeth, M.D.

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