Richard F. Riedel MD
Dr. Riedel received his bachelor’s degree from Colgate University and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. He completed his medical internship, residency, and fellowship training in hematology and medical oncology at Duke University, serving as chief resident for internal medicine in 2004.
His research in the laboratory of Dr. Phillip Febbo, at the Institute for Genomic Sciences and Policy, has focused on using genomic strategies to identify mechanisms associated with the development of chemotherapy sensitivity and resistance. Most recently, Riedel was part of a research team at Duke which developed a panel of genomic tests that analyzes the unique molecular traits of a cancerous tumor and determines which chemotherapy will most aggressively attack that patient's cancer. These new tests have the potential to save lives and reduce patients' exposure to the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. The research was published in the November issue of Nature Medicine.
Dr. Riedel’s research will involve active collaboration with physicians at Duke who have established a robust clinical program in sarcoma including Drs. Brian Brigman and Doug Tyler from Surgery, Drs. Jon Gockerman and Michael Morse from Medical Oncology, Dr. Nicole Larrier from Radiation Oncology and Drs. Michael Datto and Leslie Dodd from Pathology.
Patients with advanced sarcoma are difficult to treat. Current chemotherapy regimens are suboptimal and do not take into account the large heterogeneity among sarcoma subtypes. Preliminary data suggests that gene expression profiling provides a novel window through which to view and investigate the biology underlying sarcoma subtypes and response to therapy. We strongly believe that genomic profiling will be helpful in identifying novel therapeutics that may be used alone or in combination with standard chemotherapy. The identification of patients for whom a pathway-specific therapy may benefit will allow us to develop improved treatment strategies for sarcomas as well as improve patient outcomes.