Dr. David Loeb

David M. Loeb, MD, PhD

Dr. David M. Loeb Dr. David Loeb was born in Washington, DC, and attended public schools in the Maryland suburbs. Dr. Loeb graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1987 with a degree in Biology. During his undergraduate studies, Dr. Loeb was actively involved in laboratory research, publishing a paper describing a novel in vitro assay for testing the metastatic potential of tumor cells and another paper describing differences between transforming and nontransforming forms of the key intracellular kinase, src. He received his MD and PhD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, and his laboratory research involved dissecting the secondary signaling pathways triggered by the trk proto-oncogene. In 1994 he returned to Baltimore for an internship and residency in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins. Residency training was followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, also at Johns Hopkins. During his fellowship training, Dr. Loeb shifted his research focus to the WT1 transcription factor, which is important in the development of a variety of childhood cancers, including sarcomas. After fellowship training, Dr. Loeb joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins, where he has remained ever since, being promoted to Assistant Professor in 2001 and to Associate Professor in 2010.

In 2006, Dr. Loeb was appointed the Director of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, the only comprehensive, multidisciplinary Sarcoma Program in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area. Dr. Loeb’s research currently focuses on sarcomas, and includes clinical, translational, and basic science projects. Clinical research projects include investigations into the optimal use of radiopharmaceuticals (such as 153Sm-EDTMP). Translational research projects include the development of therapies targeting sarcoma stem cells, and the basic science work includes projects focused on the identification and characterization of sarcoma stem cells as well as projects focused on understanding the role of WT1 in the biology of solid tumors, especially sarcomas. Dr. Loeb has published over 50 peer reviewed research articles.

Dr. Loeb joined the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative's Medical Editorial Advisory Board in December 2011. He is featured in the Initiative's One-Minute Video Series, has written ESUN articles about targeted therapies and desmoplastic small round cell tumors, and has received a research grant for his work on Ewing's sarcoma stem cells.