Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center director to step down
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D. Gary Gilliland, MD, PhD, president and director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, announced today that he will step down next year.
Gilliland, who has served in these roles since January 2015, will continue to lead the institution during the search for his successor.
“Leading Fred Hutch has been the high point of my career,” Gilliland said in a message announcing his decision to employees. “The center is in an excellent position, and I am confident that now is the right time to open the door for that new leader.”
Gilliland, a blood cancer physician-scientist, previously led the leukemia program at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, served as senior vice president and global oncology franchise head and Merck & Co., and served as vice dean and vice president of precision medicine at Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania.
During Gilliland’s tenure as president and director of Fred Hutch, the center hired dozens of new faculty members, increased its grant funding by 48%, quadrupled its endowment and developed new research collaborations.
“Gary has had incredible achievements in setting the Hutch’s strategy, growing our teams and expanding our resources,” Matthew McIlwain, chair of the Fred Hutch board of trustees, said in an institution announcement. “Gary has helped us to invest in world-class investigators, modern facilities and innovative team research — enabling science far into the future. This has also helped Hutch scientists translate discoveries to patients more rapidly and advance their research in powerful new ways, thanks to new-found synergies with tech companies and other nontraditional collaborators.”