St. Jude researchers will be honored at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting. It will be held April 25-30 in Chicago. Each year, members of the cancer research community, including scientists, clinicians, health care professionals, cancer survivors, patients and advocates, attend the meeting. It provides an opportunity for St. Jude researchers to share their research impact with a broad audience.
This year, AACR has elected Charles W.M. Roberts, MD, PhD, executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, to serve on the organization’s Board of Directors.
“To say that I am honored would be an understatement,” said Roberts. “AACR is one of the most highly regarded organizations in the U.S. and is a personal favorite of mine. AACR plays a pivotal role in not only education but also connecting researchers and clinicians so we can all work together to find a cure for cancer. I look forward to serving on the board and helping guide AACR into the future.”
Roberts serves as an Executive Vice President at St. Jude and is also the director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center. Roberts leads research in the field of cancer epigenetics, and his work has led to new investigational cancer therapies for both children and adults. He studies how chromatin remodeling complexes, which normally allow access to DNA so genes can be transcribed, contribute to cancer.
Zhang named AACR Fellow
Jinghui Zhang, PhD, has been named a member of the 2025 AACR Class of Fellows. Each year, clinicians and researchers are selected as fellows to highlight their groundbreaking contributions that have driven significant innovation and progress in the field of cancer research.
Zhang is the former chair of the Computational Biology department at St. Jude and is known for her computational expertise in pediatric cancer genomics. As group lead for analyzing the next-generation sequencing data provided by the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, Zhang produced new computational tools to help fellow scientists probe the genetic origins and fundamental driving mechanisms of pediatric cancers. Zhang is the mind behind St. Jude Cloud, conceptualizing the resource and overseeing its development and launch.
Mullighan to receive St. Baldrick’s Award
AACR will honor Charles Mullighan, MBBS, MSc, MD, for his contributions to pediatric cancer research at this year’s meeting. Mullighan will receive the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Cancer Research. This award is given to those who have made significant discoveries in the pediatric cancer research community and to honor their improvement in the understanding and treatment of pediatric cancer.
Mullighan is a member of the Department of Pathology and is the senior deputy director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research uses integrated genomic, epigenomic and experimental approaches to understand acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and related disorders. He has led landmark studies that have defined the inherited and somatic genetic alterations in ALL.
Durbin named NextGen Star, additional researchers highlighted in poster presentations
Adam Durbin, MD, PhD, has been named one of AACR’s NextGen Stars, which recognizes up-and-coming researchers in the field of pediatric cancer. Durbin is an assistant member in the division of Molecular Oncology, where his research focuses on translating laboratory discoveries into clinical breakthroughs for patients with difficult-to-treat malignancies.
At the annual meeting, scientists from St. Jude will also present on various topics through poster presentations with topics ranging from spatial omics to solid tumors to computational biology. Poster presentations run throughout the conference.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer, sickle cell disease, and other life-threatening disorders. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 60 years ago. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. To learn more, visit stjude.org, read St. Jude Progress, a digital magazine, and follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.