As we were finishing last week’s issue of The Cancer Letter, I had a lingering fear that my story about cancer centers bifurcating the job of the cancer center director would miss an institution or two.
In the story, I listed NCI-designated cancer centers where the top job is split into two:
- the chief executive, and
- the principal investigator on the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant.
I counted seven such institutions (The Cancer Letter, April 5, 2024).
And I missed Fox Chase Cancer Center!
So, the right number is eight. I think changes that occurred in eight out of 72 NCI-designated cancer centers can be declared a trend.
How could I have missed Fox Chase, considering that I spoke with top officials at that institution during the 2021 interregnum?
To report this story, I had to rely on the oral tradition, always a hazardous path. In fact, even some of the institutions that split the two positions weren’t sure when they did so.
Here is the updated list, with Fox Chase highlighted:
- At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, two roles were split in 2004 when William Evans succeeded Art Nienhuis as CEO. Evans decided to separate the two roles “because the roles and responsibilities of the CEO had grown so much and the expectations for the CCSG PI were growing as well,” said Michael B. Kastan, who took responsibility over St. Jude’s CCSG at the time. Kastan is now the executive director of Duke Cancer Institute. James R. Downing now serves as St. Jude’s CEO and Charles W.M. Roberts serves as the center director.
- At Moffitt Cancer Center, this change occurred in 2012. Now, the CEO job is held by Patrick Hwu, and the jobs of the executive vice president, center director, and chief scientific officer are held by John L. Cleveland.
- At City of Hope, the CEO-director split occurred in 2013. Since that time, the CEO position has been held by Robert W. Stone, and the center director and chief scientific officer job is now held by John D. Carpten.
- At The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, the change occurred in 2017. The interim CEO is now David E. Cohn, and the center director is Raphael E. Pollock.
- At Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, the two roles were split in 2018. The CEO job is now held by the long-time director Mary C. Beckerle and the center director job is held by Cornelia M. Ulrich.
- At Fox Chase, the job was split up in 2021, with Robert Uzzo becoming the president and CEO and Jonathan Chernoff becoming the center director.
- At MD Anderson, the change was made earlier this year, in February. Peter WT Pisters now serves as the institution’s president, and Giulio F. Draetta, a senior vice president and the chief scientific officer, oversees the NCI core grant.
- At Oregon Health and Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute, the two jobs were split up earlier this year, with Brian J. Druker becoming the CEO, Thomas A. Sellers becoming the center director.
