Member and Division Director of Research
Department of Pathology;
Co-Leader, Hematological Malignancies Program;
Senior Deputy Director, St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center;
Director, Center of Excellence for Leukemia Studies;
Medical Director, St. Jude Biorepository;
William E. Evans Endowed Chair
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Memphis, Tennessee
For groundbreaking genomic discoveries that have reshaped the classification, diagnosis, and treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Dr. Mullighan’s seminal research has defined novel ALL subtypes, identified key genomic drivers of disease, and established precision medicine approaches that have transformed risk stratification and therapeutic strategies. His groundbreaking studies of BCR::ABL1-like ALL led to the implementation of sequencing-based diagnostics and targeted kinase inhibitor therapies, dramatically improving outcomes for high-risk patients. Moreover, his work on clonal evolution and relapse has provided fundamental insights into treatment resistance, informing strategies to prevent disease recurrence.
The AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Cancer Research was established in 2019 to recognize major research discoveries in pediatric cancer research and to honor an individual who has significantly contributed to any area of pediatric cancer research, resulting in the fundamental improvement of the understanding and/or treatment of pediatric cancer. Uniquely, the award recipient is also afforded the opportunity to nominate junior faculty at the assistant professor level or equivalent, who are affiliated with an academic institution involved in cancer research, cancer medicine, or cancer-related sciences, to be considered to receive a one-year, $75,000 AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Fellowship.
To learn more, please visit the press release.
View Past Recipients.