Two Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Leaders in Cancer Research Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is proud to share that Ross Levine, MD, Chief Scientific Officer, and Dana Pe'er, PhD, Chair of the Computational and Systems Biology Program at the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the most respected distinctions in science and medicine. With these latest appointments, 30 MSK faculty members have now received this prestigious honor.

Dr. Levine's research focuses on the genetic changes that drive myeloid malignancies, including myeloproliferative neoplasms and acute myeloid leukemia, and translating these discoveries into more effective treatments. As MSK's Chief Scientific Officer, he leads basic and translational research strategy, overseeing programs, centers, technology cores, and the financial and operational resources that support MSK's research enterprise. Previously, Dr. Levine served as the first chief of the Molecular Cancer Medicine Service in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, inaugural Director of the Center for Hematologic Malignancies, and Senior Vice President for Translational Research at Memorial Hospital. He holds the Edward P. Evans Endowed Chair for Myelodysplastic Syndromes.

Dr. Pe'er is a preeminent computational biologist whose work has transformed how scientists use large-scale genomic data to understand complex biological systems. Her lab has pioneered widely used machine-learning and AI approaches to reveal how cells take on certain states, communicate with one another, and organize into tissues. She applies these approaches to fundamental questions in organismal development and in cancer, with a focus on cellular plasticity, metastasis, and how cancer cells shape-and are shaped by-their tissue ecosystems during progression and therapy. Currently, Dr. Pe'er is the Chair of Computational and Systems Biology and Scientific Director of SKI's Single-cell Analytics Innovation Lab, as well as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She holds the Alan and Sandra Gerry Endowed Chair.

Election to NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes those who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. New members are elected by current members through a process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. During its annual meeting, NAM elected 90 regular members and 10 international members. The newly elected members bring NAM's total membership to more than 2,600, which includes more than 300 international members.

Founded in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, NAM is one of three academies that comprise the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the United States. The National Academies are private, nonprofit institutions that work outside government to provide objective advice on matters of science, technology, and health. The NAM addresses critical issues in health, science, medicine, and related policy and fosters collective action to achieve common goals for health. Together, the Academies support education and research, recognize exceptional contributions to knowledge, and enhance public understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine (STEMM) fields. With their election, NAM members make a commitment to volunteer their service in National Academies activities.