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Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine stands as the only NCI-Designated Cancer Center in South Florida. With 13 locations across its four-county Catchment Area (CA), Sylvester provides access to advanced cancer diagnostics, treatments, and community-responsive health care. Sylvester’s mission is to reduce the human burden of cancer through research, education, prevention, and the delivery of quality patient care. 

Read more about the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Cancer Center

Clinical
Stephen D. Nimer, MD
Director
1475 NW 12th Ave Suite 3039
Miami, FL 33136
(305) 243-1175

Senior Leaders

Senior Leader Title
Antonio Iavarone, MD Deputy Director
Erin Kobetz, PhD, MPH Associate Director Community Outreach and Engagement
Frank Penedo, PhD Associate Director Population Sciences
George Grills, BS Associate Director Shared Resources
Jonathan Trent, MD, PhD Associate Director Clinical Research
Kerry Burnstein, PhD Associate Director Education and Training
Lauren Whitmore, MA Associate Director Administration
Maria Figueroa, MD Associate Director Translational Research
Stephan Schürer, PhD Associate Director Data Science and Computing
Stephen Nimer, MD Director and Principal Investigator
Wael El-Rifai, MD, PhD Associate Director Basic Science

Research Programs

Research Program Program Leaders
Cancer Control Frank Penedo, PhD, RDN; Tracy Crane, PhD, MS
Cancer Epigenetics Ramin Shiekhattar, PhD; David Lombard, MD, PhD
Translational and Clinical Oncology Carl Landgren, MD, PhD; Jaime Merchan, MD
Tumor Biology Scott Welford, PhD; Rai Priyamvada, PhD

Shared Resources

Category Resource Directors
Cat 1: Laboratory Science Cancer Modeling Shared Resource Daniel Bilbao Cortes, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science Flow Cytometry Shared Resource Eric Wieder, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science Onco-Genomics Shared Resource Sion Williams, PhD
Cat 3: Epidemiology, Cancer Control Behavioral and Community-Based Research Shared Resource Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH
Cat 4: Clinical Research Biospecimen Shared Resource Nipun Merchant, MD
Cat 6: Biostatistics Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource Yan Guo, PhD
Last Updated
December 11, 2025