AACR annual meeting highlights St. Jude research, honors Comprehensive Cancer Center director

Charles W.M. Roberts, MD, PhD, executive vice president and Comprehensive Cancer Center director at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, has been named as a 2026 Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy. This fellowship was established to honor “scientists, clinicians, and physician-scientists whose visionary work has reshaped the landscape of cancer research.”

He will also receive the Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research during the organization’s annual meeting. As part of the award, he will be a featured lecturer at the AACR annual meeting, held April 17–22 in San Diego. Each year, members of the cancer research community, including scientists, clinicians, health care professionals, cancer survivors, patients and advocates, attend the meeting. It provides an opportunity for St. Jude researchers to share their research impact with a broad audience.

This is the second consecutive year Roberts has been honored by AACR. In 2025, he was elected to serve on the AACR Board of Directors. He is also the session chair for a talk on Chromatin, Epigenetics & Cancer, scheduled for April 21.

“I am honored that AACR has recognized our efforts to transform the outcome for children with cancer, a future that feels closer than ever with the dawn of new therapeutic technologies,” Roberts said. “I am additionally appreciative of the recognition of our efforts to develop the next generation of exceptional cancer researchers to bring this vision to life. It is wonderful to have AACR’s support and collaboration in this endeavor to save children worldwide.”

Finally, he will be the featured guest during a fireside chat hosted by STAT. Titled “Shifting the Paradigm for Pediatric Cancer,” the event will highlight how the next generation of pediatric cancer treatments is emerging from fundamental discoveries about cancer-specific vulnerabilities.

In addition to his work as director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, Roberts leads research in the field of cancer epigenetics. He studies how chromatin remodeling complexes, which normally allow access to DNA so genes can be transcribed, contribute to cancer when their normal function is disrupted. His work has led to new FDA-approved and investigational cancer therapies for both children and adults.

St. Jude researchers featured at AACR 2026

In addition to Roberts’ award lecture and fireside chat, St. Jude faculty will be involved in multiple sessions and panel discussions during the 2026 AACR conference.

• Adam Durbin, MD, PhD, an assistant member in the division of Molecular Oncology, will deliver a talk on how abnormal AKT signaling rewires osteosarcoma cells on April 20. Durbin was named one of AACR’s NextGen Stars during the 2025 AACR conference in Chicago. NextGen Stars are up-and-coming researchers in the field of pediatric cancer. Durbin was recognized for his work in translating laboratory discoveries into clinical breakthroughs for patients with difficult-to-treat malignancies.
• Melissa Hudson, MD, faculty member in the Department of Oncology, director of the Cancer Survivorship Division, Comprehensive Cancer Center associate director of Population Sciences, and Charles E. Williams Endowed Chair of Oncology-Cancer Survivorship, will host a discussion on morbidity after childhood cancer on April 17.
• Stephen Gottschalk, MD, faculty member and Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy chair, will discuss advancing CAR T for blood cancers on April 18.
• Jinghui Zhang, PhD, faculty member and St. Jude Endowed Chair in Bioinformatics, will host a presentation on therapy-related mutagenesis in long-term survivors on April 19. 
• Lillian McCrae Guenther, MD, a faculty member in the Division of Molecular Oncology, will present on the interface of radiation science and pediatric oncology on April 19. 
• Hongbo Chi, PhD, faculty member and chair of the Department of Immunology and co-director of the Center of Excellence for Pediatric Immuno-Oncology, will deliver a presentation on mechanisms of immune evasion and immune dysregulation on April 19.
• Elizabeth Fox, MD, MS, Clinical Trials Research senior vice president and Comprehensive Cancer Center associate director for Clinical Research, will present a talk on antibody drug conjugates and novel small molecules in clinical development on April 20.
• Brenda Weigel, MD, vice president of clinical research industry engagement, will present a talk on advancing early-phase pediatric cancer trials on April 20.
• Charalampos Kalodimos, PhD, faculty member and chair of the Department of Structural Biology, will be the session chair for a talk on structural insights into cancer biology and therapy on April 21.
• Renato Umeton, PhD, vice president of Data Science and chief of Artificial Intelligence, will chair a session on agentic AI as the oncologist on April 22.

The AACR annual meeting will also feature multiple St. Jude scientists in poster presentations on topics ranging from pediatric cancer genomics and epigenomics to targeted therapies for pediatric cancer and biological and clinical consequences of cancer therapy. Poster presentations run throughout the conference.