Frits van Rhee, MD, PhD, co-founded the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network. He is a Professor of Medicine and Director of Developmental and Translational Medicine at the UAMS Myeloma Institute. He earned his medical degree from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands and his PhD at the Imperial College of Science, Medicine and Technology, University of London. Dr. van Rhee trained in Internal Medicine and Hematology in the UK, and in Bone Marrow Transplantation at John Radcliffe University Hospital in Oxford and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London. He holds the Charles and Clydene Scharlau Chair for Hematological Malignancies.
Dr. van Rhee is a renowned myeloma physician who treats and follows more than 800 patients with multiple myeloma, MGUS, and smoldering myeloma, as well as other hematologic malignancies. He is a leading innovator in immunotherapy research and clinical applications, especially for patients with high-risk disease.
Dr. van Rhee has been the principal investigator of NIH grants studying Natural Killer cell activity via cellular and vaccine-based approaches in myeloma.
Dr. van Rhee is also an international expert on Castleman Disease, with one of the largest populations of Castleman Disease patients in the world, and POEMS Syndrome.
Dr. van Rhee is a member of the International Society for Cellular Therapy, the International Society for Experimental Hematology, the European Group for Bone and Marrow Transplantation, the Royal college of Physicians (UK), the Royal College of Pathologists (UK), and the American Society of Hematology. He has UK board certification in Internal Medicine and Hematology.