I am excited to share that we have appointed a new director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB: Barry Sleckman, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Sleckman, a nationally-recognized cancer physician-scientist, comes to us by way of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, where he currently serves as an associate director. He completed his M.D. and Ph.D. in immunology at Harvard Medical School followed by his residency in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He completed his postdoctoral training in molecular immunology in the laboratory of Dr. Frederick Alt at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Sleckman started his own laboratory in 1998 in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at the Washington University School of Medicine, where he grew an international reputation as a prominent leader and associate director at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center. After nearly two decades in St. Louis, he made the move to Weill Cornell in 2015.

His laboratory has focused on elucidating pathways important for immune system development and on understanding the function of DNA damage response pathways including those that are unique to cancer cells and may serve as targets for a novel class of cancer therapeutics. His laboratory was the first to show that DNA responses provide signals that regulate cell-type specific processes that are not required for DNA repair.

Dr. Sleckman is an engaging leader with a talent for building teams with a passion for providing outstanding clinical care as well as for cutting edge clinical trials. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and he is a fellow in the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. He brings with him a long list of awards, honors, and publications. We believe strongly he is the ideal person to guide the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center to even greater growth and success in the near future, and we look forward to the addition of his leadership here at UAB.

Dr. Sleckman will officially join us January 6. You can read more about him here.