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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Appoints Dr. Charles Roberts as New President and CEO

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Appoints Dr. Charles Roberts as New President and CEO

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has announced the appointment of Dr. Charles Roberts as its next president and chief executive officer. Dr. Roberts, currently the executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, will assume his new role on January 1, 2027. He joined St. Jude in 2015 and has been instrumental in overseeing the vision, planning, and strategic growth of the institution’s cancer research and clinical research enterprise. Dr. Roberts's leadership has led the Cancer Center to achieve the top 'Exceptional' ranking by the National Cancer Institute in multiple reviews, consistently earning its best scores in institutional history. His research focuses on cancer epigenetics, particularly the role of chromatin remodeling complexes in cancer development, which has contributed to new FDA-approved and investigational cancer therapies for both children and adults.
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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Appoints Dr. Charles Roberts as New President and CEO

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Appoints Dr. Charles Roberts as New President and CEO

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has announced the appointment of Dr. Charles Roberts as its new president and chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2027. Dr. Roberts currently serves as the executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center. He joined St. Jude in 2015 and has been instrumental in overseeing the vision, planning, and strategic growth of the institution’s cancer research and clinical research enterprise. His predecessor, James R. Downing, MD, who recruited Dr. Roberts in 2014, expressed confidence in his leadership, highlighting his accomplishments and vision. Dr. Roberts emphasized his honor in leading the institution during a period where emerging technologies offer significant opportunities to accelerate discovery and transform outcomes for children with catastrophic diseases globally. He looks forward to fostering continued collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and international borders.
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Columbia University Researchers Develop Multi-Organ Chip to Track Cancer Metastasis

Columbia University Researchers Develop Multi-Organ Chip to Track Cancer Metastasis

Researchers at Columbia University, led by Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, have developed a novel multi-organ chip designed to mimic and track the spread of cancer cells, known as metastasis. This innovative platform includes compartments with engineered human bone and lung tissues, connected by vascular flow containing circulating breast cancer cells. The chip allows for dynamic crosstalk among these tissues, providing a more accurate model for studying how cancer spreads compared to traditional animal models. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, focuses on understanding the critical phase of organ colonization, where cancer cells break away from the primary tumor, travel through the bloodstream, and establish new tumors in distant organs. This model enables scientists to investigate the complex interactions between cancer cells and organ-specific microenvironments using actual patient cells and tissues.
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BGI Genomics Expands Oncology Strategy with Multi-Omics and AI Integration for Personalized Cancer Therapies

BGI Genomics Expands Oncology Strategy with Multi-Omics and AI Integration for Personalized Cancer Therapies

BGI Genomics is broadening its oncology strategy to encompass prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of cancer, moving beyond individual genomic assays. This expansion emphasizes the integration of multi-omics technologies, including ctDNA-based minimal residual disease (MRD) testing and multiplex immunofluorescence pathology. The company recently announced a strategic collaboration with GORTEC China, focusing on these advanced molecular and multi-omics approaches in precision oncology. This partnership aims to combine established clinical research capabilities with technological innovation, particularly in head and neck cancer. BGI Genomics will contribute its independently developed personalized ctDNA-MRD testing technology, bioinformatics analysis, and research translation capabilities to this collaboration. The initiative seeks to improve patient stratification and treatment-response assessment by exploring the use of ctDNA-MRD testing at various treatment stages and assessing the ...
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Moderna and Merck's Personalized mRNA Melanoma Vaccine Shows Promising Results in Late-Stage Trial

Moderna and Merck's Personalized mRNA Melanoma Vaccine Shows Promising Results in Late-Stage Trial

Moderna and Merck have announced successful late-stage trial results for their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran. The vaccine, administered alongside Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda, significantly extended the time patients lived without their cancer returning or spreading, compared to Keytruda alone. This experimental treatment is custom-made for each patient, targeting the unique genetic mutations found in their tumor. The process involves sampling a patient's tumor, identifying its specific genetic sequence, and then incorporating this information into the vaccine's production. The vaccine is designed to train the patient's immune system to recognize and attack these cancerous cells. Earlier trials indicated a 49% reduced risk of cancer recurrence or spread. The latest Phase 3 trial results are a significant step towards potential FDA approval, offering new hope for patients with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
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Personalized mRNA Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Melanoma Trial

Personalized mRNA Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Melanoma Trial

Merck and Moderna announced that a personalized mRNA-based cancer vaccine, when combined with Merck's Keytruda, has shown significant success in a large, late-stage trial for high-risk melanoma patients. This combination regimen is the first to demonstrate the potential to extend the lifespans of melanoma patients whose cancer had been surgically removed. In Phase 3 trials, the treatment significantly reduced the risk of cancer returning or spreading. Earlier Phase 2b trials indicated a 49% reduction in melanoma recurrence and a 59% reduction in metastasization to distant organs. The vaccine works by using genetic information from a patient's individual tumor to identify and target the cancer's unique mutational fingerprint.
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Charles W.M. Roberts Appointed President and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Charles W.M. Roberts Appointed President and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Charles W.M. Roberts, MD, PhD, has been named the next president and chief executive officer of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with his tenure set to begin on January 1, 2027. Dr. Roberts currently serves as the executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center. His appointment follows an extensive international search conducted by the firm Spencer Stuart. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a leading institution dedicated to understanding, treating, and curing childhood cancer, sickle cell disease, and other life-threatening disorders. It holds the distinction of being the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center focused exclusively on children. Since its inception over 60 years ago, treatments developed at St. Jude have significantly improved the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80%. The hospital is also known for sharing its research breakthroughs globally to enhance treatment and care for more children.
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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Appoints Charles W.M. Roberts as New President and CEO

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Appoints Charles W.M. Roberts as New President and CEO

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has announced the appointment of Charles W.M. Roberts, MD, PhD, as its new president and CEO. Dr. Roberts, who joined St. Jude in 2015 as the Comprehensive Cancer Center director, will succeed James R. Downing, MD, who is stepping down as part of a planned leadership transition. During his tenure as Cancer Center director, Roberts led the center to achieve the top “Exceptional” ranking by the National Cancer Institute in both reviews and its best score in institutional history each time. His research has made significant advancements in cancer epigenetics, particularly in uncovering tumor-suppressive roles of SMARCAB1/SNF5 in lethal pediatric rhabdoid tumors, leading to new FDA-approved and investigational cancer therapies for both children and adults. Dr. Roberts' contributions have been recognized by the medical and scientific community, including his election as a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy.
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St. Jude announces new CEO to succeed James R. Downing

St. Jude announces new CEO to succeed James R. Downing

Dr. Charles W.M. Roberts will begin his new role on Jan. 1, 2027, following Dr. James R. Downing's decade-long tenure.
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New St. Jude CEO Dr. Charles Roberts says childhood cancer treatments are at 'the dawn of a new era'

New St. Jude CEO Dr. Charles Roberts says childhood cancer treatments are at 'the dawn of a new era'

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Dr. Charles W
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Korean Research Team Develops Microfluidic Chip for Personalized Glioblastoma Treatment Prediction

Korean Research Team Develops Microfluidic Chip for Personalized Glioblastoma Treatment Prediction

A Korean research team has developed a microfluidic chip designed to predict personalized treatment responses for glioblastoma patients. This innovative chip recreates a patient's own tumor cells along with the surrounding peritumoral vascular environment, known as the blood–brain tumor barrier (BBTB). Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive brain tumor, challenging to treat due to rapid cancer cell spread and patient-specific tumor characteristics. The brain's natural blood–brain barrier typically blocks harmful substances, but it also impedes anticancer drugs from reaching tumors. In glioblastoma, this vascular barrier changes, and the extent of this change varies among patients, influencing drug efficacy. Traditional treatment response predictions rely on genetic information and biomarkers, which do not account for these patient-specific vascular environments. The new chip addresses this by co-culturing patient-derived glioblastoma cells with brain vascular endothelial cells and astrocytes, precisely mimick...
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Nanoplatelets Show Promise as Targeted Drug Delivery System for Cancer Therapy

Nanoplatelets Show Promise as Targeted Drug Delivery System for Cancer Therapy

Researchers have developed a novel nanoplatelet platform that could significantly advance targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) for cancer. TRT involves attaching radioisotopes to molecules that specifically target cancer cells. The new nanoplatelet, created through a unique assembly process, possesses a specialized layered structure that allows it to rapidly absorb and strongly bind a wide variety of radioisotopes. This innovation addresses the challenge of effectively delivering short-lived radioactive isotopes to tumor sites, which are crucial for both imaging tumors and inflicting cellular damage. The platform is versatile, accommodating numerous radioisotopes, including those previously unstudied, and offers potential for both imaging and therapeutic applications, or a dual theranostic approach.