Joann Sweasy, PhD, who has served as Interim Director for the past 9 months, has been named Director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center and the inaugural holder of the Nancy C. and Craig M. Berge Endowed Chair for the Director of the Cancer Center.
As Director, Dr. Sweasy will establish the center’s vision and priorities and provide leadership in building its visibility and reputation. In this role, she will act as the chief adviser to the university in cancer-related matters and serve as principal investigator of the Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Sweasy also will continue to build a leadership team and community of investigators working in transdisciplinary, translational, and collaborative research; advanced cancer care and novel clinical trials; cancer training and mentorship; and community outreach.
Joann Sweasy, PhD
From the Lab to the Clinic and Community
“The Cancer Center can realize its vision because the leaders of the university, Health Sciences, and the center are all enthusiastically invested in our mission to prevent and cure cancer,” Dr. Sweasy said. “I am thrilled about our future and the engagement of the community and civic leaders, the excitement of the researchers, and the vital service we provide to patients across Arizona as the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Arizona.”
Dr. Sweasy joined the Cancer Center in June 2019 as Associate Director for Basic Sciences and was appointed to faculty positions at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson in the Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Radiation Oncology. As Associate Director for Basic Sciences, she has developed and promoted research for the growth in cancer basic sciences. She also has worked closely with the Cancer Center research programs, ensuring that basic science is well integrated across the four established programs: cancer biology, therapeutic development, cancer imaging, and cancer prevention and control.
An expert in DNA repair and genomic instability, Dr. Sweasy conducts research focused on how aberrant DNA repair leads to mutations that result in diseases such as cancer.
