AACR Applauds Appointment of Anthony G. Letai, MD, PhD, as Director of the National Cancer Institute
PHILADELPHIA – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today congratulated Anthony G. Letai, MD, PhD, on his appointment as the 18th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
“As a top-tier physician-scientist, Dr. Letai brings impressive qualifications to this extremely important position,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “His appointment as NCI Director is a very promising development for cancer research and care. Dr. Letai’s enthusiasm for scientific innovation, his appreciation for the value and importance of basic research in advancing progress for cancer patients, and his commitment to fostering collaboration will ensure that NCI continues to lead the way in its mission to improve health, prevent cancer, detect cancer early to maximize survivorship, and reduce deaths from this devastating disease. The AACR looks forward to working closely with Dr. Letai and his colleagues at NCI to build upon the remarkable progress that has been made against cancer.”
Letai’s research is focused on understanding apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death, and how this process can be exploited to selectively kill cancer cells. A series of molecular steps primes cells for apoptosis and makes them dependent on the anti-apoptosis protein BCL-2 for survival. Notably, Letai and colleagues developed a technique called BH3 profiling to identify cells that are highly primed and are, therefore, susceptible to BCL-2 inhibition.
These studies contributed to the clinical testing and FDA approval of the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (Venclexta) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, small lymphocytic lymphoma, and acute myeloid leukemia. Further, Letai’s work has led to over 100 clinical trials across the world dedicated to testing additional drugs capable of inhibiting anti-apoptotic proteins, including BCL-2, BCL-XL, or MCL-1, for many different cancer types.
More recently, Letai has been exploring the use of BH3 profiling to predict therapeutic efficacy and has utilized novel approaches by which to introduce this method into clinical practice and precision medicine. He has also expanded his work to include the identification of new methods to improve cancer immunotherapy efficacy and reduce drug resistance in cancer patients.
Letai is a professor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. An active AACR member since 2001, Letai has contributed greatly to AACR’s scientific meetings, journals, and initiatives over the years. Recently, he was a co-chair of the AACR Annual Meeting 2026 Program Committee, a position he also held for the 2016 Annual Meeting. He was a scientific editor of the AACR journal Blood Cancer Discovery from 2023-2025 and an academic member of the AACR Exploratory IND/Phase 0 Clinical Trials Task Force from 2021-2023. He served as a member of the AACR Hematologic Malignancies Working Group Steering Committee (2024-2025), the AACR-AstraZeneca Career Development Award for Physician-Scientists, in Honor of José Baselga Scientific Review Committee (2021-2025), and the AACR Basic Cancer Research Grants Scientific Review Committee (2010-2011, 2008-2009).