Charles Roberts, Current Cancer Center Director and Executive Vice-President and Next President and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, shared St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s post on LinkedIn, adding:
“There are moments in this work that stay with you. A laboratory discovery that moves us one step closer to changing a child’s life. Or more profoundly, a visit with a patient that drives home what urgency really means.
Over the years, I have experienced many such moments firsthand – and seen the compassion our care teams bring to families, the persistence of our scientists as they pursue answers that don’t come easily, and the dedication of people across St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital who understand that progress is measured not only in discovery, but in what that discovery makes possible for children. In leading the Comprehensive Cancer Center, I have seen again and again that the most meaningful advances are driven by collaboration, bringing together different expertise in pursuit of better outcomes for patients and families.
Those experiences are what drew me to this mission, and they continue to shape my sense of responsibility to help advance science in ways that change the future for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. To be named the next president and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a profound honor, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of discovery, innovation and impact.
I am also deeply grateful for the extraordinary leadership of James R. Downing Under his tenure, St. Jude has made phenomenal progress and established an exceptional foundation for what comes next. He has exemplified the power of pairing bold scientific vision with an unwavering focus on patients and families.
As I look to the future, I do so with deep appreciation for the people who make this place exceptional and with a clear sense of what collaboration can make possible – connecting discovery and care, learning from one another, and turning our collective effort into better outcomes for children. The mission of St. Jude has never been more important, and I am honored to help carry it forward with a community so committed to finding cures and saving children.”
Quoting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s post:
“St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Charles Roberts an internationally recognized physician-scientist and current executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, as its next president and CEO.
Since joining St. Jude in 2015, Dr. Roberts has helped shape the vision, strategy and growth of the institution’s cancer research and clinical research enterprise, guiding the Cancer Center’s 5 research programs and strengthening the connection between discovery, translational research and clinical care.
Under his leadership, the Comprehensive Cancer Center has grown in scope and impact, earning the National Cancer Institute’s top ‘Exceptional’ rating in both reviews in the past decade and achieving the best score in institutional history each time. Current St. Jude President and CEO James R. Downing, described the Cancer Center as ‘the crown jewel of our research endeavors,’ adding that recruiting Dr. Roberts as its director was ‘one of the absolute best decisions’ he has made as CEO.
Dr. Roberts’ appointment as the institution’s 7th president and CEO is rooted in the breadth of his experience as both a physician-scientist and collaborative leader.
His research has helped advance the field of cancer epigenetics, deepening understanding of how changes in chromatin remodeling can influence the biology of childhood cancers.
At the same time, his leadership has extended beyond his own lab to the broader cancer research community, with recognition as a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy and election to the AACR Board in 2025.
At St. Jude, he has carried that same collaborative approach into major initiatives that connect researchers and clinicians across disciplines and institutions, including the St. Jude Research Collaboratives program, the Pediatric Cancer Dependencies Accelerator, The Science of Childhood Cancer virtual lecture series and the Collaborative Academic Developmental Therapeutics initiative with Stanford University and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
As Dr. Roberts prepares to lead St. Jude into its next chapter, his combination of scientific rigor, clinical perspective and collaborative leadership positions the institution to accelerate progress for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases around the world.
‘We are closer than ever before to realizing my father’s dream that no child should die in the dawn of life, thanks in large part to the work of Charlie Roberts over the past decade,’
– said Marlo Thomas, national outreach director for St. Jude and daughter of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas.
‘There is no one more qualified to lead St. Jude into the future than Charlie, a brilliant scientist and dedicated physician who truly embodies our mission of finding cures and saving children. I wish my father were here for this remarkable passing of the torch.’
Learn more about how Dr. Roberts’ leadership, scientific vision and collaborative approach are helping shape the next era of research at St. Jude.”
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