Article Category: Staff/Faculty Update

DiPersio Honored with National AACR Research Award

American Association for Cancer Research highlights physician-scientist’s pioneering advances in leukemia biology, stem cell transplantation and cellular immunotherapy

John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, a pioneering WashU Medicine physician-scientist at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, will be recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to science at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego.

The AACR will present DiPersio with its Award for Outstanding Achievement in Blood Cancer Research, honoring his decades of innovation that have transformed the understanding and treatment of hematologic malignancies.



Nationally renowned for his work in the lab and clinic, DiPersio specializes in bone marrow transplantation and treats patients diagnosed with leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) at Siteman Cancer Center. As a researcher, he is recognized for pioneering advances in leukemia science and stem cell biology.

“It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by AACR,” said DiPersio, the Virginia E. and Sam J. Golman Endowed Professorship of Medicine, Pathology & Immunology and director of the Center for Gene and Cellular Immunotherapy at WashU Medicine and Siteman. “This award reflects the collaborative work of many colleagues dedicated to improving the lives of patients with blood cancers.”

The award highlights DiPersio’s essential contributions to the development of the hematopoietic stem cell-mobilizing agents plerixafor, known commercially as Mozobil, and motixafortide, also known as Aphexda. His research identifying JAK 1/2 signaling in graft-versus-host disease led to the identification and approval of JAK inhibitors, including ruxolitinib, known commercially as Jakafi.

In addition, DiPersio’s discoveries defining clonal evolution in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have transformed the understanding of cancer relapse and have advanced novel CAR T and CAR-iNKT (invariant natural killer T) therapies for AML and multiple myeloma, expanding treatment options for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers.

In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for an innovative immunotherapy he led the development of for rare and aggressive types of blood cancer. The therapy — called WU-CART-007, also known as soficabtagene geleucel, or sofi-cel — targets T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL) in patients who haven’t responded to earlier treatments or who have relapsed.

In the clinic, DiPersio is also known for his bedside manner and care and concern for those he treats.

“Dr. DiPersio is an amazing doctor,” one patient said on the clinician’s WashU Physicians profile page. “I cannot say enough good things about him. I consider myself blessed to have him as my doctor.”

In 2014, DiPersio received the AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research.

This year’s AACR award presentation will coincide with DiPersio’s lecture at the annual meeting, which runs from April 17–22. His talk, titled “Killing the bad without the good: CART for T-cell malignancies,” is at 4:15 p.m. PT in Room 30 in the upper level of the San Diego Convention Center.

Murphy to Receive AACR-CRI Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology

Recognition honors pioneering discoveries that have paved the way for more effective cancer immunotherapies

WashU Medicine researcher Kenneth M. Murphy, MD, PhD, has been named the recipient of the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)-Cancer Research Institute (CRI) Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology.

Murphy, the Eugene Opie First Centennial Professor in pathology and immunology at WashU Medicine and a researcher at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, will be recognized at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026, which will be held April 17-22 in San Diego.

The Lloyd J. Old Award recognizes scientists whose outstanding research has had a major impact on our understanding of cancer.

“Dr. Murphy is an extraordinary and innovative immunologist,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD, chief executive officer of the AACR. “His discoveries have laid crucial groundwork for new advances in the treatment of cancer, thereby extending and saving countless lives. The AACR and CRI are thrilled to present him with this well-deserved award for enabling significant progress in the field of cancer immunology.”

Murphy’s groundbreaking work has shown how different types of dendritic cells, a kind of immune cell, develop and take on specialized jobs in controlling the body’s immune responses. He has uncovered the genetic “programs” that tell immature cells to become specific kinds of dendritic cells, including discovering how a gene called BATF3 helps create a type of dendritic cell that is especially good at activating “killer” T cells, which destroy infected or cancerous cells. His research has deepened our basic understanding of how the immune system recognizes threats and has helped guide new approaches to boosting the immune system’s attack on cancer, improving cancer immunotherapy.

“The Lloyd J. Old Award honors scientists whose work doesn’t just advance a field — it reshapes how we understand biology at its core,” said Alicia Zhou, PhD, chief executive officer at CRI. “Dr. Murphy’s discoveries have defined the rules by which dendritic cells orchestrate immune responses, providing a foundation that continues to inform how we design the next generation of cancer immunotherapies.”

Murphy is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His previous honors include the CRI William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic Immunology, the American Association of Immunologists-Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award and the WashU Medicine Distinguished Investigator Award.

Murphy will deliver his award lecture, titled “DC subsets: Why so much specialization?”, on April 21 at 3 p.m. PT during the AACR annual meeting.

Learn more about his research.

NCCN Recognizes Podany as 2026 Young Investigator Award Recipient

WashU Medicine physician-scientist Emily L. Podany, MD, MPHS, has been named a 2026 recipient of a prestigious NCCN Foundation Young Investigator Award, given by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and NCCN Foundation.

Podany is an assistant professor of medicine at WashU Medicine and a medical oncologist who treats patients diagnosed with breast cancer at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine.

She is being recognized for her research project, titled “From Screening to Action: Implementing Navigation Interventions for Patients with Breast Cancer and High-Risk Social Determinants of Health.” Her work focuses on addressing barriers that can prevent patients from receiving timely and effective cancer care, particularly among populations facing social and economic challenges.

Through this award, Podany will receive funding and support from the NCCN Oncology Research Program over two years. The program provides mentorship and oversight to help early-career investigators advance innovative research aimed at improving cancer outcomes.

“We have a rigorous peer review process for identifying emerging leaders in cancer research through their work,” said Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, CEO, NCCN. “NCCN Young Investigators go on to lead within their institutions and nationally. This year’s recipients identified particularly pressing needs that impact people with cancer. They are exploring solutions to unlock better outcomes for all in the future. We are honored to play a role in their career trajectory and look forward to seeing where it takes them.”

Podany is one of five early-career researchers to be recognized this year. Her project is designed to move beyond identifying patients at risk to actively connecting them with the care and resources they need. By developing targeted patient navigation interventions, she aims to further reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment and improve care coordination, ultimately ensuring that patients with breast cancer receive equitable, timely and high-quality care.

“I am deeply grateful to the NCCN Foundation for this support,” Podany said. “This award will allow us to take meaningful steps toward ensuring that patients facing social and economic challenges are not left behind in their cancer care. Our goal is to translate screening for social determinants of health, such as food insecurity and housing instability, into tangible action by connecting patients to the resources they need to achieve the best possible outcomes.”

Podany’s work reflects the broader mission of the NCCN Foundation to support innovative research that addresses disparities in cancer care and improves outcomes for all patients. Her focus on practical, patient-centered interventions highlights the importance of bridging gaps between diagnosis and treatment. She will present her work at the NCCN 2029 Annual Conference.

The NCCN is a nonprofit alliance of 33 cancer centers, including Siteman Cancer Center, that is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of cancer care, research and education.

Stewart elected to AACR board of directors

Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, associate director for basic science and co-leader of the Mechanisms of Cancer Biology Program at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, has been elected to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Board of Directors.

Stewart, who is also the Gerty Cori Professor and vice chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at WashU Medicine, will be sworn in at the AACR Annual Meeting, April 17–22 in San Diego.

AACR is one of the world’s largest cancer research organizations, with more than 60,000 members in 143 countries and territories. As a board member, Stewart will work with other leaders to oversee the strategic direction, financial health and governance of the organization. Her term continues until 2029.

“I’m honored to serve on the AACR Board of Directors at such a pivotal time for cancer research. Indeed, while there are significant challenges to sustained funding and ensuring the success of the next generation of cancer researchers, our understanding of the processes that drive cancer is providing enormous opportunities for identifying new therapeutic targets. I look forward to working with this extraordinary community to accelerate discoveries that improve patients’ lives,” Stewart said.

“This national leadership role reflects Siteman’s own commitment to shaping the future of cancer care, and together we’re creating the partnerships and scientific momentum that will ultimately benefit patients everywhere.”

As a cancer biologist at Siteman Cancer Center and WashU Medicine, Stewart studies how noncancerous cells, known as stroma, in tumors promote the development of cancer. In particular, she and her lab investigate how age-related changes in the stroma modulate the immune response and affect dormant tumor cells, thus promoting disease. The goal is to identify points of intervention at which the process can be interrupted, thereby preventing or treating cancer.

Learn more about Stewart’s research and lab.

As vice chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at WashU Medicine, she develops strategies and programs to support the professional and personal development of the department’s trainees, as well as to enhance faculty recruitment and professional development.

Stewart earned her bachelor of science degree in microbiology from the University of Minnesota and her PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in cancer biology at the Whitehead Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She joined the WashU Medicine faculty in 2003.

Grant furthers novel therapeutic approach to glioblastoma

Mosquito-borne Zika virus helps destroy deadly brain cancer in mice

Milan G. Chheda, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Oncology at WashU Medicine and a brain tumor specialist at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, has received a nearly $1.5 million grant from the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.

The three-year award will significantly advance a unique viral-based immunotherapy for glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer that typically results in death within two years.

Chheda’s research repurposes the Zika virus, which has been linked to neurological adverse events. Instead, Chheda and colleagues engineered and tested the virus to selectively target and destroy glioblastoma tumor cells while sparing healthy brain tissue. The virus has proven highly effective in mice, giving a powerful boost to an immunotherapy drug and training the immune system to surveil and prevent against recurrence. The Kleberg Foundation award is essential for sustaining momentum, allowing Chheda and his team to complete key work needed to transition to a first-in-human clinical trial. Chheda previously received a Kleberg Foundation grant in 2017 to support this work.

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. About 12,000 people are diagnosed each year in the U.S.

Chheda also is director of neuro-oncology at WashU Medicine and a physician-scientist and associate director at The Brain Tumor Center at Siteman.

WashU researchers at Siteman honored with NIH Director’s awards

Three investigators recognized by high-risk, high-reward research program

Three WashU researchers at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine have received prestigious and highly competitive awards through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. The awards support unconventional approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research.

Andrew L. Young, MD, PhD, and Janet Sorrells, PhD, each have received the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, which supports the launch of research careers for exceptional junior scientists who recently received their doctoral degree or completed clinical training.

Michael P. Meers, PhD, has received the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, which supports unusually innovative research from investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received a large independent NIH grant.

Understanding Aging’s Effect on Cancer Risk

Young, an assistant professor in the Division of Hematology at WashU Medicine, studies how genetic mutations in blood and bone marrow cells acquired with age contribute to cancer risk. Most previous work in this area has looked at mutations in individuals who have already developed cancer, to see which mutations might have been responsible. Young’s research will focus on studying such mutations in cancer-free adults at advanced ages to better understand who goes on to develop cancer and why.

Because most of these cancer-related mutations can exist in the body for long periods of time but never lead to cancer, studying such genetic changes in healthy adults could provide new clues to preventing cancer.

“We have a relatively good understanding of how germline genetic risk, such as inherited BCRA1 mutations, and environmental exposures such as smoking lead to disease,” said Young, who treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center. “But we know less about how the genomic changes associated with ‘normal’ aging drive the development of disease and could be used to predict or prevent those diseases. This support will allow us to conduct the foundational experiments necessary to understanding how aging affects our bodies at the genomic level and how those genomic changes influence human disease.”

Boosting the Efficiency of Regenerating Tissue

Meers, an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics at WashU Medicine, is focused on developing new tools and techniques to help guide stem cells to becoming specific mature cell types. Such tools could nurture the nascent field of regenerative medicine, in which stem cells or even specialized cell types, such as skin cells, could be reprogrammed to form new tissues and organs that could replace those damaged by disease or injury.

Most existing processes for directing cells to take on particular functions or identities are inefficient in producing the targeted cell type, making them unsuitable to treating human disease. Meers and his team are developing a novel time-lapse profiling method to monitor changes in how a cell’s genes are regulated as it goes through the reprogramming process. A better understanding of these changes could lead to the development of more precise and efficient cell conversion methods that are more suitable for human therapeutics.

“Some of the most groundbreaking, paradigm-shifting science has historically come from the sorts of research that took risks, and we’re pleased to have the opportunity to pursue that sort of research with this NIH support,” Meers said. “This award is a green light to focus solely and without distraction on exactly what we think will make the greatest positive impact on scientific knowledge and human health.”

Revealing the Origins of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Sorrells, an assistant professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, is focused on developing a new imaging tool to study inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic gastrointestinal disorder that increases the risk of colorectal cancer. Significant gaps exist in the knowledge of how host cells and intestinal microbes interact in real time within the intestinal microenvironment.

Sorrells is developing an integrated optical imaging platform that can observe the intestinal microenvironment in mice with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Most laboratory methods rely on bulk analysis of extracted tissue, which eliminates spatial context, or use imaging techniques that cannot achieve both the resolution and the speed needed to capture microbial behavior and host metabolism in vivo.

“We lose the ability to look at complicated dynamics that happen on the seconds scale within biological systems, and we also lose the ability to get higher throughput of larger areas,” she said. “One of the goals of this grant is to develop a new method for label-free super-resolution, with nonlinear optical microscopy.”

Sorrells’ approach ensures that the measurements reflect native physiology rather than an experimental artifact.

“The application is to look at a living gut microbiome,” she said. “Seeing how both bacteria and host cells are interacting over time and looking at how that changes spatially will help us better understand the many factors at play in the gut microbiome. Looking at live bacteria-host interactions will allow us to understand healthy and diseased states.”

The new imaging tool also could be used to study other complex tissue microenvironments, including those relevant to cancer, infection and autoimmune disorders.

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This work is supported by NIH grant numbers DP2 GM164659-01 (Meers), DP5 OD038607-01 (Sorrells) and DP5 OD039424-01 (Young). This work is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Puram named Head of Otolaryngology

Leading physician-scientist and head and neck cancer specialist also revered as a mentor

Sidharth “Sid” V. Puram, MD, PhD, has been named the head of the Department of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery and the Lindburg Professor of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A nationally recognized physician-scientist specializing in head and neck cancer surgery, Puram currently serves as the Joseph B. Kimbrough Professor and director of the department’s Division of Head & Neck Surgery. He also is co-director of the Robert Ebert and Greg Stubblefield Head and Neck Tumor Center at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine. Puram’s new appointment begins Nov. 1, 2025.

His research has advanced understanding of tumor growth, treatment resistance and metastasis in head and neck cancers — discoveries that have opened new options for treating these challenging tumors.

“Dr. Puram is an exceptionally talented physician-scientist and mentor who was unanimously selected by our leadership team from an outstanding pool of candidates,” said David H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and the George and Carol Bauer Dean of WashU Medicine, who announced Puram’s new appointment. “He will be leading a department that has always been esteemed but has grown in accomplishments and reputation in the last decade under the leadership of Dr. Craig Buchman. We believe Dr. Puram will inspire the otolaryngology team at WashU Medicine, with our partners at BJC HealthCare, to even greater impact and advance the science-based practice of care for patients with upper airways disorders in the coming decades.”

Puram’s research explores tumor heterogeneity — the complex ecosystem of diverse cells within a cancer and how they communicate with one another — a focus that has garnered significant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Understanding the cellular and genetic make-up of tumors can help scientists and clinicians identify and target the specific cells implicated in troubling behaviors seen in cancer such as tumor invasion, spread and resistance to therapy. His research has informed several innovative clinical trials and identified still other potential treatment avenues.

Detailing the diversity within tumors has pointed the way toward precision treatments for certain kinds of head and neck cancers and provides a foundation for developing therapies more tailored to the tumors of individual patients.

Through his leadership of the Division of Head & Neck Surgery at WashU Medicine, Puram has guided growth in both faculty and patient referrals while also establishing new collaborations with other departments to broaden the expertise offered to head and neck cancer patients with complex clinical needs. In his role as co-director of the Robert Ebert and Greg Stubblefield Head and Neck Tumor Center, Puram has overseen a coordinated clinical program including head and neck specialists, oral health services, ancillary care and mental health care, among other services, with care coordination driven by patient navigation. This innovative, multidisciplinary approach is designed to improve patient outcomes by supporting patients throughout their cancer treatment while improving communication among the care team.

These programs reflect the department’s broader leadership in research and patient care. The department is the fifth-highest recipient of NIH research funding for otolaryngology departments. Each year, its physicians care for more than 120,000 patients and perform more than 11,000 surgeries, including nose and sinus operations; cochlear implants and other procedures to restore hearing; facial reconstruction surgeries; procedures to improve voice and swallowing; pediatric upper airway surgeries; and cancer surgeries.

“Otolaryngology at WashU Medicine is like no other in the U.S. in terms of its academic rigor and the collegiality of the faculty and researchers, so it is a great honor to have been selected to lead the department,” said Puram. “We have a fantastic team of physicians, researchers and trainees here who are absolutely committed to delivering the highest standard of care for our patients today and to carrying out rigorous research that will benefit the patients of tomorrow. Our team continues to push the boundaries through innovative surgical techniques and research projects that will disrupt traditional paradigms of care. I’m very excited to be able to carry that mission forward.”

As a head and neck cancer specialist, Puram is in the rare position as a physician of being both his patients’ surgeon and primary oncologist. With a particular focus on reconstructive surgery after the removal of head and neck cancer, he helps many patients return to their lives and minimize damage to key functions such as speech, swallowing, taste, hearing and smell.

Puram earned his bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned both his MD and PhD from Harvard Medical School in 2013. For his graduate research, Puram identified signaling pathways in brain cells that affect the shape of their dendrites, which are key recipients of information.

Puram chose otolaryngology as his medical specialty because it provided him the opportunity to perform a variety of anatomically intricate and challenging surgeries while also practicing as a cancer specialist. He completed a residency in otolaryngology in the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Combined Program in 2018. During his simultaneous postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/MIT Broad Institute, Puram published the first single-cell atlas of head and neck cancers. He then completed his training with a clinical fellowship in microvascular reconstruction/head and neck surgical oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James before coming to WashU Medicine in 2019.

Puram serves on the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research special grants review study section. He is also on the editorial boards of Surgical Oncology Insight, Head & Neck and Frontiers in Oncology. Puram has been recognized by his peers for his teaching, science and clinical skills. He received the American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician Scientist Award in 2020 and was named a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 2021. He received the Department of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery Faculty Teaching Award earlier this year.

Woodard elected to National Academy of Medicine

Pamela K. Woodard, MD, head of the Department of Radiology and director of Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine — one of the highest honors in health and medicine. Election to the academy recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

Woodard, also the Elizabeth E. Mallinckrodt Professor of Radiology at WashU Medicine and a research member at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, is one of 100 new members elected to the academy this year. She was honored for her leadership as director of Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, one of the largest academic radiology departments in the U.S., ranking third in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Woodard’s election reflects a distinguished career as a researcher and clinician — marked by major advances in the development and clinical translation of cardiac imaging techniques that have improved clinicians’ ability to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease — as well as her dedication to inspiring the next generation of physician-scientists in the field.

“Dr. Woodard’s groundbreaking work in cardiothoracic imaging and her commitment to training radiologists have advanced imaging science and the practice of radiology in exceptional ways,” said David H. Perlmutter, MD, Executive Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and the George and Carol Bauer Dean of WashU Medicine. “Her election to the National Academy of Medicine is a well-deserved honor that reflects key contributions to improving patient care in the area of radiology. We’re so proud to celebrate this recognition with her and grateful for all she contributes to the WashU Medicine community.”

Among her accomplishments is the clinical translation of a technique to decrease motion artifact (an image disturbance due to movement) in MRI scans caused by a patient’s breathing. This advance has allowed three-dimensional MRI imaging to be used for diagnostic scans of cardiac patients. The first clinical use of the technique occurred at WashU Medicine.

She also led a team that has provided new tools to help doctors characterize atherosclerotic plaques, which are accumulations of fats and other materials in blood vessels that can cause cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or strokes. The nanoparticle-based PET imaging radiotracer her group developed selectively adheres to specific receptors in the plaques in the blood vessels, potentially allowing physicians to better identify their patients’ risk of stroke. Woodard has also led other first-in-human trials translating WashU-developed PET radiotracers into people.

Woodard is a pioneer in developing the use of multidetector spiral CT — a device that collects multiple CT images simultaneously — to detect pulmonary embolisms, which are potentially deadly blood clots that travel into the blood vessels of the lungs. Woodard worked on the technique as a resident at Duke University. She also was a principal investigator of the clinical trial that eventually established the imaging technique as the standard of care for diagnosing blood clots in the lungs.

A committed educator, Woodard has led the Training Opportunities in Translational Imaging Education and Research (TOP-TIER) program at MIR since its inception in 2017. The NIH-funded program trains radiology residents and fellows in advanced translational imaging research.

Woodard is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American College of Radiology and the American Heart Association. She was awarded the Gold Medal from the North American Society for Cardiovascular Imaging in 2025, the Radiological Society of North America’s Outstanding Researcher award in 2021 and, in 2015, the Distinguished Investigator Award given by the Academy of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research, of which she is currently president. In 2024-2025 she served as president of the American College of Radiology.

Woodard earned her bachelor’s and medical degrees from Duke. She then completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She returned to Duke for her residency in radiology and came to WashU Medicine for a clinical fellowship in cardiothoracic radiology, before joining the WashU Medicine faculty in 1997.

Kim and Tim Eberlein receive Harris Award

Kim and Timothy J. “Tim” Eberlein were honored with the 2025 Jane and Whitney Harris St. Louis Community Service Award during an Aug. 22 luncheon at the Whittemore House.

Mary McKay, vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at Washington University in St. Louis, hosted the luncheon. Chancellor Andrew D. Martin presented the Eberleins with the award.

“Kim and Tim, we are here to celebrate your service, not just to WashU but to the communities that surround us,” Martin said. “That service ranges from fundraising to volunteer leadership to helping civic organizations do better by the people they serve.”

Tim Eberlein, MD, is the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and founding director of Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine. He served as head of the Department of Surgery at WashU Medicine from 1998-2022.

The Harris Award committee selects a couple to receive the annual award, which was established in 2000 in honor of the late Jane and Whitney Harris to recognize couples who contribute to the betterment of the greater St. Louis community in an outstanding manner.

About Kim Eberlein

Kim Eberlein is a civic volunteer committed to connecting the community and supporting the arts. She helped found and co-chair the Women’s Group on Race Relations in 2009, a membership group in support of women from all walks of life in St. Louis, and the Saint Louis Visionary Awards in 2015, an organization that recognizes women’s achievements in the arts.

Eberlein’s commitment to service extends to the WashU community. She has served on several advisory councils at the university, including councils for Arts & Sciences and WashU Medicine. She also served as board chair for the Women’s Society of WashU.

Outside of WashU, she also has served as board chair for several organizations in the greater St. Louis area, including the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Safe Connections. She also served as vice chair of the board for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Eberlein has supported many organizations through board service, including the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri Historical Society and the Women of Achievement Awards.

Her professional career includes many years in health services administration and consulting in public health.

About Tim Eberlein

Tim Eberlein has extended the work of the cancer center into the community in many ways, such as through the cancer center’s advisory committees, community education and screening programs, and partnerships with rural and urban community agencies. He also has worked to secure health-prevention partnerships with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

He has served as chair of leadership giving for the annual campaign of the United Way of Greater St. Louis and on the board of the Saint Louis Science Center. He currently serves on the board of Pedal the Cause, which raises funds for breakthrough cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Together, the couple have led fundraisers for the Sheldon Concert Hall, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and The Black Rep.

The couple have a son, Justin (Ashley).

Harris Award recipients are honored with a cash gift made in their name to St. Louis-area charitable organizations of their choice. The Eberleins’ award will support the Saint Louis Dance Theatre, Forest Park Forever and Safe Connections, an organization dedicated to preventing and ending domestic violence through youth education, crisis care and therapy.

Eberlein named President-Elect of American College of Surgeons

Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, FACS, director of Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, has been elected president-elect of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The three-year commitment includes one-year terms each as president-elect, president and immediate past-president.

Eberlein began his term as president-elect after ACS’s annual meeting this month in Chicago. With more than 90,000 members, the organization is dedicated to improving the care of surgical patients and safeguarding standards of care.

“It is an honor to be elected to the leadership of the ACS by my national peers,” said Eberlein, who also is the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and senior associate dean for cancer programs at WashU Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “In this position, I will continue to work tirelessly to help the College and its Fellows in our shared mission to care for patients and advance surgical care.”

Eberlein has been active within the ACS for many years, including as an ACS Fellow since 1988 and a member of the Board of Regents from 2015-2024. He served as chair of the board from 2022-2023. Since 1995, Eberlein has been a member of the Commission on Cancer, an ACS-founded consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for patients with cancer. He also served as editor-in-chief for the Journal of the American College of Surgeons from 2004-2024.

For his numerous achievements, Eberlein received the Rodney E. and Thomas G. Sheen Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the ACS and the ACS Owen H. Wangensteen Scientific Forum Award.

Eberlein also has held leadership positions at the American Board of Surgery, Advisory Committee to the Board for Surgical Oncology, Board of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Society of Surgical Oncology, American Surgical Association and the National Cancer Institute.