The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recently announced that John D. Carpten, PhD, FAACR, has been elected by the association to serve on its Board of Directors. Dr. Carpten has accepted the position previously held by Karen E. Knudsen, MBA, PhD, who is stepping down to fulfill her duties as the American Cancer Society’s new Chief Executive Officer.
John D. Carpten, PhD, FAACR
Karen E. Knudsen, MBA, PhD
Dr. Carpten is a world-renowned expert in genome science who has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the role of biology in cancer disparities as well as to the field of precision cancer medicine. He is a tenured Professor and Chair of the Department of Translational Genomics, the Royce and Mary Trotter Chair in Cancer Research, Professor in the Department of Urology, Co-Director of the Institute for Translational Genomics, Director of the University of Southern California Molecular Genomics Core, Program Co-Leader of the Translational and Clinical Sciences Program at Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and principal investigator at the CaRE2 Health Equity Center at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Service to the AACR
Dr. Carpten has been a member of the AACR since 2003 and was elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2021. He served as Chair of the association’s Minorities in Cancer Research Council from 2020 to 2021 and has been a member of the Council since 2007. Dr. Carpten has served as Chair of the AACR Special Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved in 2007, 2009, 2013, and 2020. He has also been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, AACR-MPM Transformative Cancer Research Grants (2019–2022) and Chair of the Steering Committee for the inaugural AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report (2019–2020).
Among many other honors and awards, Dr. Carpten has previously received the AACR–Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship (2018) and the AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities (2014).
