Wafik S. El-Deiry on Precision Oncology and Continued Commitment to Cancer Research
Wafik S. El-Deiry/brown.edu

Wafik S. El-Deiry on Precision Oncology and Continued Commitment to Cancer Research

Wafik S. El-Deiry, Director of Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University and Chair of the WIN Consortium in Cancer Personalized Medicine, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“On June 2, 2026, I received a written offer from Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. stating that I had been selected for the positions of President of Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. and Laboratory Director of Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.

This is a prestigious position that I was excited to accept because I believe I would have been able to work with the teams at Leidos and the Frederick National Laboratory to make significant advancements in cancer research, including in precision oncology: the area that I have made my life’s work.

The document requested that I sign and return it to confirm acceptance of the offer of employment. I signed the document on June 5, 2026. I was contacted by Leidos and informed that they were rescinding the offer, which I had accepted.

I am not going to speculate here on the potential political motivations for this abrupt change of course, but I am sharing this factual account of these events because they have had a significant impact on me professionally and personally.

For my entire career, I have made countless personal sacrifices in the name of scientific advancement. I remain committed to these endeavors in the interests of providing care and saving lives.

We all have a shared interest in advancing cancer research and we cannot allow politics to be an obstacle to this objective.”

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Medically reviewed Jun 7, 2026 by Mariam Khachatryan, MD