Sung Won Choi, MD

Dr. Sung Choi, who was raised in Southeastern Michigan, received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Michigan, M.D. from Wayne State University, and M.S. in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis from the University of Michigan. She completed her pediatric residency at New York University and then returned to her home state for fellowship training in pediatric hematology-oncology at the University of Michigan. She then joined the Department of Pediatrics in 2006 as a faculty member in the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program. She and her husband, David Hanauer, who is also on faculty in the Department of Pediatrics, have three young children and enjoy keeping them busy with activities around Ann Arbor.

University of Michigan Health participates with most health insurance plans.

Dr. Choi’s research focus is in the prevention and treatment of graft versus host disease (GVHD), the major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). With her collaborator in the Adult Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program, Dr. Pavan Reddy, she has taken laboratory insights  demonstrating the role of histone deacetylase inhibition in GVHD, to conduct a novel clinical trial of GVHD prevention using the anti-cancer drug, vorinostat. This work has caught the attention of experts in BMT from around the country and she was recently awarded a “best abstract” prize from the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation in recognition of her scientific contributions in this area. As a member of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program at the University of Michigan, she is working to lower the incidence of acute GVHD and ultimately improve upon survival and quality of life following allogeneic HCT. 

Recent Publications:

1. Choi S, Reddy P. HDAC inhibition and graft versus host disease. Mol Med, 17: 404-16, 2011.
2. Choi, SW, Stiff P, Cooke K, Ferrara JLM, Braun T, Kitko C, Reddy P, Yanik G, Mineishi S, Paczesny S, Hanauer D, Pawarode A, Peres E, Rodriguez T, Smith S, Levine JE. TNF-inhibition with etanercept for graft versus host disease prevention in high risk HCT: Lower TNFR1 levels correlate with better outcomes. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant, 18:1525-32, 2012.
3. Choi SW, Chang L, Hanauer DA, Shaffer-Hartman J, Teitelbaum D, Lewis I, Blackwood A, Akcasu N, Steel J, Christensen J, Niedner MF. Rapid reduction of central line infections in hospitalized pediatric oncology patients through simple quality improvement methods. Pediatr Blood Cancer, 60(2):262-9, 2013.
4. Choi SW, Braun T, Chang L, Ferrara JL, Pawarode A, Magenau JM, Hou G, Beumer JH, Levine JE, Goldstein S, Couriel DR, Stockerl-Goldstein K, Krijanovski OI, Kitko C, Yanik GA, Lehmann MH, Tawara I, Sun Y, Paczesny S, Mapara MY, Dinarello CA, DiPersio JF, Reddy P. rinostat plus tacrolimus and mycophenolate to prevent graft-versus-host disease after related-donor reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation: a phase 1/2 trial. Lancet Oncol, 15(1):87-95, 2014
5. King EA, Hanauer DA, Choi SW, Jong N, Hamstra DA, Li Y, Farley FA, Caird MS. Osteochondromas after radiation for pediatric malignancies: a role for expanded counseling for skeletal side effects. J Pediatr Orthop. 34(3):331-5, 2014.