Victor E. Velculescu – Candidate for President Elect 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, Victor E. Velculescu, MD, PhD, FAACR is a candidate for President Elect for AACR.

Victor E. Velculescu is a Professor of Genetic Medicine, Medicine, Pathology, and Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

He is also the co-leader of the Lung and Head and Neck Cancer Program and an affiliate faculty member of the Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, the Institute of Computational Medicine, and the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine.

Additionally, Dr. Velculescu serves as the co-director of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics and the director of the Cancer Genomics Laboratory at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is also an affiliate faculty member in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Before his current roles, Dr. Velculescu was the associate director of precision medicine and director of cancer genetics at the Ludwig Center, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, from 2018 to 2022.

He also served as the associate director of the Johns Hopkins Individualized Health Initiative. From 2002 to 2013, he held faculty positions at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, first as an assistant professor and then as an associate professor of oncology.

His research focuses on cancer genomics, particularly the genomic and epigenetic landscapes of various cancers, including breast, colorectal, brain, pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer.

He is focused on precision medicine, leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance the understanding of cancer biology and optimize treatment outcomes.

A key area of his work involves liquid biopsy techniques for early cancer detection and monitoring. Dr. Velculescu also studies global gene expression to explore the mechanisms of tumorigenesis, with a specific focus on genes such as PIK3CA, PI3K, and IDH1.

Dr. Victor E. Velculescu has held several leadership roles within the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

He is a member of the AACR Lung Cancer Task Force (2024-present) and cochair of the Fellows of the AACR Academy Science and Science Policy Subcommittee (2024-present). He has co-chaired the Annual Meeting Program Committee on multiple occasions and served on the Education Committee.

Dr. Velculescu was elected a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2022 and has chaired the AACR Team Science Award Committee (2021-2023). He is also a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery.

Dr. Velculescu has been involved in various other AACR committees, including the Publications Committee, Science Policy and Government Affairs Subcommittee, and the GENIE Steering Committee. He has received multiple AACR Team Science Awards and the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research in 2009.

Education

Dr. Victor E. Velculescu earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Stanford University in 1992. He then pursued both his MD and PhD at Johns Hopkins University, receiving his MD and PhD in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology in 1999. Following his doctoral work, Dr. Velculescu completed a postdoctoral fellowship in oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1999 to 2001.

Awards and Honors

• Member, Executive Oversight Committee, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center (2016-present).
• Co-leader, Stand Up to Cancer Molecular Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer Dream Team (2015).
• Recipient, Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (2011).
• Recipient, National Brain Tumor Society Founders Award (2009).
• Recipient, Judson Daland Prize, American Philosophical Society (2007).
• Foreign Honorary Elected Member, Romanian Academy (2017).

Interviews with Victor E. Velculescu

Smart Diaspora: Prof. Dr. Victor Velculescu (TVRi) – TVR Internaţional (15th November, 2023)

Victor Velculescu, M.D., Ph.D. – Gene Research – Johns Hopkins Medicine (18th October, 2012)

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