Charles W.M. Roberts – Candidate for Board of Directors of AACR

The voting for the 2025 AACR Annual Election is now open, where members will vote for the next President-Elect, Treasurer, five Board Members, and four members of the Nominating Committee.

This year, Charles W.M. Roberts, MD, PhD is a candidate for the Board of Directors of AACR.

Dr. Charles W. M. Roberts is the Cancer Center Director and Executive Vice President at St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he holds the Lillian R. Cannon Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Endowed Chair.

He is also an attending physician in the Department of Oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Previously, Dr. Roberts held several key positions at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, including Deputy Chief Scientific Officer (2015), Scientific Director, and Co-Director of the Pediatric Solid Tumor Disease Center (2007-2015).

He was also an attending physician in Pediatric Oncology (2000-2015), and an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, and lecturer in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School from 2000 to 2015.

Additionally, he served as an attending physician in Newborn Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Children’s Hospital Boston during that same period.

Dr. Charles W. M. Roberts’ research focuses on pediatric oncology, with a particular interest in the molecular and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cancer development.

His work explores the role of epigenetics and epigenomics in various cancers, including those of the breast, colon, lung, pancreas, liver, and brain.

He investigates the SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodeling complex and its impact on transcriptional regulation, aiming to better understand how these processes contribute to tumor formation and progression.

Dr. Roberts is also involved in translational and clinical research, bridging basic science with patient care, and has a strong emphasis on population science.

Notably, he has contributed to the development of Tazemetostat, a first-in-class targeted epigenetic regulator, which holds promise in treating certain cancers by modulating the epigenetic landscape.

Dr. Charles W. M. Roberts has been highly engaged with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) through numerous leadership roles and contributions.

He currently serves as a member of the Steering Committee for the Hematologic Malignancies Working Group and co-chairs the Special Conferences Committee. His past involvement includes co-chairing the Annual Meeting Program Committee in 2016-2017 and 2023-2024, and serving as a member in 2007-2008.

He has also played key roles in organizing and co-chairing AACR Special Conferences, including those focused on pediatric cancer research (2017) and chromatin and epigenetics in cancer (2013, 2015). Dr. Roberts has contributed significantly to AACR’s publications, serving as a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery since 2020 and as a member of the editorial board for Molecular Cancer Research since 2015.

His involvement extends to various committees, such as the Pediatric Cancer Working Group Steering Committee (2020-2023), the Annual Meeting Education Committee (2016-2017), and the Scientific Review Committee for Basic Cancer Research Grants (2014-2016).

His dedication to advancing cancer research is reflected in his recognition and active participation across a range of AACR initiatives.

Education

Dr. Charles W. M. Roberts earned his Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1988. He then pursued both an MD in Medicine and a PhD in Immunology, completing both degrees in 1995 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Following his formal education, Dr. Roberts underwent extensive postdoctoral training.

He completed an internship in pediatrics (1995-1996) and a residency in pediatrics (1996-1997) at Children’s Hospital Boston.

From 1997 to 2003, he continued his research as a fellow in molecular oncology at Children’s Hospital Boston while also completing a pediatric oncology fellowship (1997-2000) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston.

Awards and Honors

• Member, St. Jude Board of Governors Finance Committee (2022-present).
• Member, St. Jude Board of Governors Membership Committee (2022-2023).
• Lecturer, Plenary talk at the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Annual Meeting (2020).
• Keynote speaker, Genetic Predisposition to Primary CNS Cancers “Think Tank” (2019).
• Elected member, Association of American Physicians (2018).
• Keynote speaker, International Rhabdoid Tumor Meeting, Lake Louise, Canada (2018).
• Recipient, Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association 2017 Alumni Achievement Award (2017).
• Keynote speaker, GTCbio Epigenomics and Novel Therapeutic Targets Conference, Boston, Massachusetts (2015).

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