New St. Jude CEO Dr. Charles Roberts says childhood cancer treatments are at 'the dawn of a new era'

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital named Dr. Charles W. M. Roberts its new president and chief executive officer Tuesday, replacing Dr. James R. Downing, who led the nonprofit for 12 years.

Roberts, who has been director of St. Jude’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and an executive vice president, will begin his new job on Jan. 1, as Downing moves into a faculty role in the hospital’s Global Pediatric Medicine department.

When actor and philanthropist Danny Thomas founded St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1962, the survival rate for childhood cancer patients was around 20%. Today, it is more than 80% and Roberts says the hope is for all childhood cancers to be easily treatable someday, with major strides toward that goal are within reach.

“I’m really excited because I think we are at the dawn of a new era,” Roberts told The Associated Press in an interview. “In the next several years, I believe we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve much more of Danny’s dream than ever before. And I’m excited to take us there.”

The opportunity comes through a convergence of technological advances that are creating treatments that kill childhood cancers more effectively, while also reducing the impact on the patient, Roberts said. Technology is also helping create treatments for more catastrophic childhood diseases beyond cancer.

Judy Habib, chair of the St. Jude Board of Governors, said Roberts’ emphasis on new treatment discoveries played a significant role in convincing the board to choose him as the hospital’s next leader after a global search.

“He combines the rigor of a researcher, the care of a clinician, and passion for our mission, making him the perfect person to lead one of the most accomplished pediatric research institutions in the world,” Habib said in a statement.

When he takes on his new role as St. Jude CEO, Roberts said he plans to continue his research, which has included confirming that certain genes suppress the growth of tumors.

“Keeping my hand in that is really important to make sure that I’m still at the cutting edge of understanding where the field is, what the opportunities are,” he said. “Working with other researchers is very useful input to me in helping steer our priorities. I’m a big believer in learning and growing and having input from others.”

Downing, who recruited Roberts from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2015 to head St. Jude’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, said Roberts has built the center into a “national treasure,” according to the National Cancer Institute.

“Charlie represents a unique combination of physician, researcher and leader,” Downing said in a statement to The Associated Press, adding that Roberts is “the right person at the right moment to lead this institution into the future.”

Part of that future will require dealing with the financial constraints of treating childhood cancers, which receive less research investment from pharmaceutical companies that focus more on adult cancers, as well as federal cuts to scientific research funding. Roberts said St. Jude will maintain its policy of providing treatment at no cost to patients or their families. The hospital also plans to expand its services to make treatment available to more children around the world.

He said St. Jude is able to continue this work with philanthropic support from ALSAC, the hospital’s fundraising arm. According to an analysis by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, ALSAC raised an average of $2.3 billion a year in donations between 2021 and 2023, making it the second-largest fundraiser in the United States, behind only United Way.

“We can’t go all the way and completely replace what pharma does,” Roberts said. “But (donations) will for sure help us get more things to be successful.”

Ike Anand, president and CEO of ALSAC, said he welcomes Roberts’ partnership in their shared mission.

“Few people embody the promise of St. Jude quite like Charlie Roberts,” Anand said. “He understands the urgency that patients and families feel, the extraordinary possibilities emerging at the intersection of science and technology, and the trust that donors place in this mission every day.”

Marlo Thomas, St. Jude’s national outreach director and daughter of founder Danny Thomas, said Roberts embodies the hospital’s mission.

“We are closer than ever before to realizing my father’s dream that no child should die in the dawn of life, thanks in large part to the work of Charlie Roberts over the past decade,” she said in a statement. “I wish my father were here for this remarkable passing of the torch.”

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