PIONEERING BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHER AND LEADING ONCOLOGIST DR. DAVID AGUS IS NAMED A CBS NEWS CONTRIBUTOR

Pioneering biomedical researcher and leading oncologist Dr. David Agus has been named a CBS News Contributor, it was announced today by CBS News Chairman and 60 MINUTES Executive Producer Jeff Fager and David Rhodes, President of CBS News. Dr. Agus will report on a broad range of medical topics for the division's broadcasts. He joins the remarkable CBS News medical team, which includes Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook and Medical Contributor Dr. Holly Phillips, providing the best medical insight on television. His appointment is effective immediately.

Dr. Agus brings more than 20 years of experience in science and medicine to CBS News. He is a professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and the Viterbi School of Engineering. Additionally, he is director of the University of Southern California's Westside Cancer Center and the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine.

An international pioneer in biomedical research and healthcare technologies, Dr. Agus co-founded two health care technology and wellness companies, Navigenics and Applied Proteomics. Dr. Agus is a New York Times best-selling author of The End of Illness, in which he explores ways to increase longevity.

Recognized as a trailblazer in the medical community, Dr. Agus has received numerous awards including the 2009 Geoffrey Beene Foundation's Rock Stars of Science Award.

Dr. Agus was graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree and from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1991 with an M.D. He trained at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.