Edward Chu, MD, MMS, director of the Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) and a member of the AACR since 1988, died November 11, 2025, at the age of 66.
Chu was named director of what was then the Albert Einstein Cancer Center and vice president for cancer medicine at Montefiore Medicine in 2020. He was charged with uniting the Einstein center and Montefiore’s cancer programs into a fully integrated research and clinical enterprise. Under his leadership, the integrated cancer center earned its first comprehensive status from the National Cancer Institute in 2023.
A native of Detroit, Chu earned his bachelor’s degree at Brown University and a master’s degree in pharmacology and medical degree from Brown’s School of Medicine in 1983.
He completed a residency at Roger Williams General Hospital and a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, where he became a senior clinical investigator in the NCI Medicine Branch and NCI-Navy Medical Oncology Branch.
In 1996, he joined the Yale University School of Medicine as director of the VA Connecticut Cancer Center and co-leader of the Yale Cancer Center (YCC) Developmental Therapeutics Research Program. He was appointed chief of medical oncology and associate director of clinical and translational research at YCC in 2004, and deputy director in 2007. He moved to the University of Pittsburgh in 2010 as deputy director of the Hillman Cancer Center (HCC) and co-leader of the HCC Cancer Therapeutics Program.
He joined the AACR in 1988 and served on several committees, including as chair of the Special Memberships Committee from 1998-1999 and of the Research Grant Review Committee from 2014-2015. He served on the editorial boards of Cancer Research and Clinical Cancer Research, among other journals.
He also served on the scientific committee of the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology and the clinical research committee of the Global Consortium for Chinese Herbal Medicine. In 2005, Chu was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Leave your remembrance of Dr. Chu below (limit 1,000 characters).
Sad to hear about this lost.
Ted was always enthusiastic and it was a real pleasure to talk with him during the AACR meetings.
I appreciated particularly his scientific rigor within our common fields of interest ( fluoropyrimidine pharmacology) as well as his intelligent vision for a mix between traditionnal chinese medecine and the occidental one for the fight againt cancer.
My sincere thoughts to his family
Dear Ed,
Thanks for taking the time and having the patience to help educate a basic scientist interested in fluoropyrimidine biology and chemistry in the intricacies of clinical colorectal cancer care. You will always be the leader I look up to in the use of antimetabolites for cancer care and a great example to us all in all phases of life.
Thanks,
Bill
Really saddened to hear of the loss of Ed. He was a truly great guy, knowledgeable, friendly and generous with his time. He will be missed.
Dr. Chu was a reviewer for our first CCSG submission, (and made me very nervous at our site visit!), but then became a trusted advisor to many of us at the University of Kentucky over the years. I was always thankful for his guidance, his wisdom, his humor and his kindness. He was a remarkable physician scientist and leader. What a legacy he leaves to all of us! May he rest in peace.