New York, NY/ Continental Who’s Who/- Dr. Christopher Stephen Lange, SB, DPhil, KCOM, is recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle Professional in the field of Medical, Molecular and Cellular Biological Research. Educated at MIT and Oxford, Dr. Lange is a Professor of Radiation Oncology and of Molecular & Cell Biology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

As one of the largest colleges of medicine in New York, the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, with Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Heath Related Professions, and Schools of Graduate Studies and of Public Health, is the only academic medical center combining medical education, research, and patient care services to the residents of Brooklyn.

An esteemed teacher and researcher, Dr. Lange began his medical science career in 1962 as a Research Officer in the British National Health Service. He returned to the USA to appointments at the University of Rochester, School of Medicine & Dentistry, departments of Radiology and Radiation Biology & Biophysics (the US Atomic Energy Commission Project for peaceful uses of atomic energy). He subsequently returned to NYC as Professor of Radiation Oncology and Molecular & Cell Biology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where he has been working for over thirty years. He is currently the Director of Radiation Research and Associate Director of the Residency Program of the Radiation Oncology Department.

His major research contributions have changed paradigms. They have been: the explanation of organismal radiation lethality (or organ failure) in terms of the survival, number, and repopulation ability of its underlying stem cells; a theory of why animals age; demonstration that double-strand breaks in the hereditary material (DNA) are reparable and that irradiated cell survival can be understood in terms of the kinetics of their repair; the mechanism of tissue polarity control; the higher order structure of mammalian chromosomes (clustered loop model); and development of a patented assay for the response of individual patient cancer stem cells to proposed treatments, the Hybrid Spheroid Assay. The first of these forms the basis of our current understanding of the acute responses of tissues to radiation therapy; the last makes possible the individualization of cancer treatments.

Presently, his main research focus lies in determining if his hybrid spheroid assay, which measures the sensitivity of individual patient cancer stem cells (CSCs) to proposed treatments, correctly predicts who will fail their standard of care treatments. Since the CSCs are the cells responsible for the long-term growth of cancers and from which the cancers recur, they must be eliminated to achieve a cure. If this assay’s predictions are accurate, patients can be offered alternative treatments more effective for them. 

A testament to his success and determination, Dr. Lange holds a US Patent on his Hybrid Spheroid Assay (Methods of Assaying Sensitivity of Cancer Stem Cells to Therapeutic Modalities) which promises to allow the individualization of cancer treatment selection for optimal results for each patient.

Dr. Lange graduated from the University of Oxford with his D.Phil., Fac. Med. (Radiation Biophysics) following receipt of his S.B. degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Amongst his international honors, he received the Knight’s Cross, Order of Merit, from the President of Poland, a lifetime Honorary Consultantship from the Holy Cross Oncology Center in Kielce, Poland, a Visiting Professorship at Chengdu Oncology Center, from the government of China, and a Certificate of Gratitude from the president of the University of Hirosaki, Japan, for his scientific contributions. He is also listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in the World (annually since 2006). 

For more information, please visit www.downstate.edu or see www.ResearchGate.com