COLUMBUS, Ohio — The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected Michael Caligiuri, MD, as their president-elect for 2016-2017. He will officially become president-elect at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016, to be held in New Orleans, April 16-20, and will assume the presidency in April 2017 at the Annual Meeting.

Caligiuri is director of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of the Arthur G.  James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, located in Columbus, Ohio. He holds the John L. Marakas Nationwide Insurance Enterprise Foundation chair in cancer research and is a professor in The Ohio State University College of Medicine Departments of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics and Internal Medicine.

Caligiuri is a renowned physician-scientist, known for his work in immunology that is focused on human natural killer cells and their modulation for the treatment of leukemia, myeloma, and glioblastoma. Well over 1,500 cancer patients have been treated on clinical protocols that have emanated from the Caligiuri laboratory. He will work collaboratively with the AACR board of directors and the AACR membership, which includes more than 35,000 members in 104 countries, to further the association’s mission to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, and collaboration.

“For nearly a century, AACR has been an unwavering catalyst for advancing cancer research in meaningful ways: fostering collaboration among scientists and physicians, accelerating the dissemination of cancer discoveries and supporting the education and training of young cancer researchers. I am humbled and tremendously honored to be elected by my peers to serve as AACR president-elect,” says Caligiuri. “This is an especially exciting time as we all work to forge new and innovative models of collaboration between academia, industry, the government and the community – something I am certain AACR can play a pivotal role in facilitating.”

“We are delighted that Dr. Caligiuri has been elected to serve as the 2016-2017 AACR president-elect and our 2017-18 President,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “He is a distinguished physician-scientist and highly esteemed leader, and his dedication to accelerating the pace of discovery and its translation to the clinic will be invaluable as he leads the association toward its goal of preventing and curing all cancers.”

Caligiuri has been actively involved with the AACR since 1990, serving as member and more recently chairperson of the Publications Committee since 1993 and a member of the Clinical and Translational Cancer Research Committee. He has also served as a member of the Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research Committee (2015); Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for Cancer Prevention Research Scientific Review Committee (2011); Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research Selection Committee (2010); chairperson of the Annual Meeting Program Committee (2009); member of the Scientific Program and Scientific Review Committees for the Translational Cancer Medicine Meeting (2008); Steering Committee of the Cancer Immunology Working Group (2007-2012); Clinical Research and Experimental Therapeutics Awards Selection Committee (2004); chairperson (2002) and member (2001) of the Scientific Committee of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; member of the editorial boards of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (2001-2005) and Clinical Cancer Research (1996-2008); associate editor of Cancer Research (2001-2003); member of the Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee (2001-2004, 2006-2009, 2012-2015); the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award Selection Committee (1999); and chairperson of the Membership Committee (1999).

He was elected by the membership to the AACR board of directors (2013-2016) and served as a member of the faculty for the Scientist↔Survivor Program at the AACR Annual Meeting (2003-2009). He also served as a member of the faculty for the educational workshop, Methods in Clinical Cancer Research (2003-2007).

Additionally, he is president of the Society of Natural Immunity, chair of the Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum, and a member or chair of the external boards for 12 of the nation’s cancer centers. He is a past president of the Association for American Cancer Institutes, as well as a former councilor and executive committee member of the American Society of Hematology, past member of the board of scientific advisors and the board of scientific counselors of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and past vice chair of the scientific advisory board of the Cure for Lymphoma Foundation.

Caligiuri joined the faculty at Ohio State in 1997. He served on the faculty as a professor and medical oncologist specializing in hematologic malignancies at Roswell Park Cancer Institute from 1990-1997.

He has been recognized with myriad honors and awards throughout his career, including the Director’s Service Award and the MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute, the John Wayne Clinical Research Award from the Society of Surgical Oncologists, and the Emil J Freireich Award in Clinical Cancer Research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Physicians, and the Alpha Omega Honor Medical Society, as well as an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Caligiuri received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo; received his master’s and medical degrees from Stanford University in Stanford, California; completed a residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School and a fellowship in medical oncology, bone marrow transplantation, and immunology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

About the OSUCCC – James

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 45 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only four centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials on novel anticancer drugs. As the cancer program’s 306-bed adult patient-care component, The James is one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report and has achieved Magnet designation, the highest honor an organization can receive for quality patient care and professional nursing practice. At 21 floors with more than 1.1 million square feet, The James is a transformational facility that fosters collaboration and integration of cancer research and clinical cancer care.