W. Kimryn Rathmell (born November 3,1969) is an Americanphysician-scientist whose work focuses on the research and treatment of patients with kidney cancers. She served as the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute from 2023 to 2025,having previously served as the Hugh Jackson Morgan Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC),and Physician-in-Chief for Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics in Nashville,Tennessee.[1] On November 17,2023,Rathmell was nominated by President Biden as the next Director of the National Cancer Institute[2] and she assumed office on December 18,2023. She stepped down from her role as director on January 20,2025. It was announced she would assume the role of CEO of the James Cancer Hospital[3] in Columbus,Ohio effective May 27,2025.
In 1991,Rathmell graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Chemistry. She subsequently earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biophysics in 1996 under the mentorship of Gilbert Chu,and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in 1998 from Stanford University.[4] The title of her PhD thesis was "Ku and DNA/PK in the repair of DNA double strand breaks." Following completion of her MD,Rathmell did an Internal Medicine internship at the University of Chicago before attending the University of Pennsylvania where she completed her Internal Medicine residency and Medical Oncology fellowship training. Rathmell completed additional postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of M. Celeste Simon and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) under the mentorship of Terry Van Dyke.[5] In 2022,she completed a Master of Management in Health Care at the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University.
Career
In 2003,Rathmell joined faculty at UNC where she held primary and secondary appointments in the departments of Medicine and Genetics. While there,she served as Co-Director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Graduate Training Program in Translational Medicine,[6] Associate Director for Training and Education at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center,and Associate Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program.
In 2015,she joined VUMC as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology,[7] with secondary appointments in the departments of Cancer Biology and Biochemistry. Rathmell was successively named Cornelius Abernathy Craig Professor of Medicine.[8] In 2019,she was named Deputy Director for Research Integration and Career Development at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. She was appointed as the Hugh Jackson Morgan Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief for Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics in 2020.[9] She is the second woman to serve as Chair of the Department of Medicine at VUMC,and immediately succeeds Nancy J. Brown.
Prior to her appointment as Director,Rathmell served on the National Cancer Institute's Board of Scientific Advisors,[11] the Keystone Symposia's Board of Directors[12] and the Forbeck Foundation Scientific Board of Directors. She is a former associate editor for the Journal of Clinical Investigation,and recently[when?] served as senior editor for eLife. She has previously held leadership roles for the American Society of Clinical Oncology,the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (Kidney Cancer Research Program),and the American Society for Clinical Investigation[13] (ASCI),in which she served as secretary-treasurer and society President in 2019-2020.[14]
In recognition of her contributions to kidney cancer research and the advancement of the physician-scientist career path,she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine,[20] and in 2023,she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[21] On December 18,2023 she assumed her role as the Director of the National Cancer Institute.
Personal life
Rathmell resides in Nashville with her husband,Jeffrey Rathmell,a professor at VUMC and director for the Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology.[22] They have two children.
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