Alec Kimmelman was named director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, effective immediately.
Kimmelman, Anita Steckler and Joseph Steckler Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, was named to the top job on Nov. 27, less than a month after NYU Langone Health suspended Benjamin Neel from the cancer center director’s position for online posts related to the Israel-Hamas war (The Cancer Letter, Nov. 3, 2023).
Kimmelman will also serve as the new principal investigator on the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant for NYU, officials said.
It appears that the NYU administration chose to promote a strong internal candidate, foregoing a formal national search, a process that usually takes months.
Recently, NYU, a Comprehensive Cancer Center, received an “outstanding” score on revewal of its CCSG.
Kimmelman’s research focuses on the unique metabolism of pancreatic cancers to understand how they use various fuel sources to power their growth.
Kimmelman joined NYU Langone in 2016. He serves on the Executive Management Committee of Perlmutter Cancer Center, co-leads its Cancer Cell Biology Program, and sits on the external advisory boards of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center and The Beatson Cancer Center.
This is an incredible opportunity. My time leading the Department of Radiation Oncology has given me the chance to collaborate with excellent teams all across the institution.
Alec Kimmelman
Since 2021, he has been senior advisor to the dean and CEO at NYU Langone for cancer strategy and operations. He has received a $1.7 million Drug Discovery Award from the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research this year to accelerate the conversion of promising scientific discoveries into therapeutics.
“This is an incredible opportunity,” Kimmelman said in a statement. “My time leading the Department of Radiation Oncology has given me the chance to collaborate with excellent teams all across the institution, and I am confident that together we will continue to lead the charge in developing new treatments and providing our patients with the world-class care for which we are known.”
“Dr. Kimmelman’s work consistently and clearly demonstrates all of the necessary talents and skills needed to effectively lead our cancer program into the future,” Robert I. Grossman, dean and CEO of NYU Langone Health, said in a statement.
Neel, who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, was fired over his retweets of political cartoons and other materials that were critical of protesters against Israel’s strikes on Gaza and that included caricatures of Arab people.
Neel is suing NYU Langone Medical Center, claiming unlawful termination (The Cancer Letter, Nov. 17, 2023).
Neel’s suspension was announced on Nov. 1, four days after NYU suspended a resident named Zaki Masoud for a post on a personal Instagram account that critics say defended the Hamas attack.
“Dr. Neel was offered up as a sacrificial lamb so that NYULH could feign impartiality in its efforts to curb political and religious expression,” the lawsuit states. “Any purported pretextual ‘cause’ such as an unsupported suggestion that Dr. Neel’s posts may have a detrimental effect upon the reputation, character, or standing of NYULH is an ex-post fabrication to justify an unlawful breach.”
Steve Ritea, senior director of media relations at NYU Langone Health, said Neel’s actions ran contrary to the institution’s social media policy.
“Several times since last month, we reminded all employees of our high standards, as well as our Code of Conduct and Social Media Policy,” he said in a statement. “Nonetheless, Dr. Ben Neel, as a leader at our institution, disregarded these standards in a series of public social media posts and later locked his Twitter/X account. NYU Langone stands by our decision and looks forward to defending it in court.”
The lawsuit was filed at the Supreme Court of New York’s New York County Commercial Division.
