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Association of American Cancer Institutes names president-elect
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Karen E. Knudsen, PhD, has been elected vice president/president-elect of the Association of American Cancer Institutes’ board of directors.
The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) includes 98 academic and freestanding cancer research centers in the United States and Canada. The association’s mission is to enhance the impact of academic cancer centers.
Her 2-year term will begin Sept. 30.
“It’s an honor to be elected from my peers as the president-elect of AACI,” Knudsen, a member of AACI’s board of directors since 2016, said in a press release. “I look forward to working not just with AACI leadership but with all centers to advance the pace of discovery, and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families.”
Knudsen has served as enterprise director of Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center — Jefferson Health in Philadelphia since 2015. In that role, she governs cancer research and cancer care across 14 hospitals within Jefferson Health.
Knudsen also is Hilary Koprowski chair in the department of cancer biology at Thomas Jefferson University, as well as professor of cancer biology, urology, medical oncology and radiation oncology.
Knudsen’s translational research is focused on prostate cancer.
“Dr. Knudsen is the leader we need for cancer today,” Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, president of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health, said in the release. “She has a deep commitment to both hard science and the urgency of gaining access to those scientific discoveries for all members of our communities. Here at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, she has led our focus on solving the intense disparities in cancer mortality in our city, and improving the lives of all cancer patients through access for all to the most advanced care.”