American Association for Cancer Research Inaugurates New Leadership During AACR Annual Meeting 2026

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, FAACR, begins term as AACR President

SAN DIEGO – The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have welcomed Keith T. Flaherty, MD, Fellow of the AACR Academy, as AACR President for 2026-2027. He was inaugurated today at the AACR’s Annual Business Meeting of Members, held during the AACR Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego, California.

Flaherty is director of clinical cancer research and the Richard Saltonstall Endowed Chair in Oncology at Mass General Cancer Center, a founding member of Mass General Brigham. He is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Flaherty’s career has focused on understanding the molecular and clinical consequences of inhibiting oncogenic pathways in melanoma while establishing therapeutic approaches and constructing rational combinatorial therapies for the treatment of this disease. He has pioneered the development of targeted therapies matched to the genetic characteristics of a patient’s tumor and led early clinical trials testing vemurafenib and other therapeutic agents for the treatment of melanoma. Through his work, Flaherty has translated discoveries about the BRAF V600E somatic mutation in cancer into effective therapies, including the FDA-approved combination targeted therapy regimens for melanoma.

“I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to serve as AACR President for the coming year,” said Flaherty. “As we have seen at this year’s Annual Meeting, the AACR is uniquely positioned to bridge cutting-edge discovery science and patient impact. During my tenure, I hope to bolster the organization’s leadership in translational research by focusing on career development and mentorship of the next generation of translational investigators, particularly those aiming to address the needs of underserved populations.”

Flaherty has been a member of the AACR since 2001 and was elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2023. He served with distinction on the AACR’s Board of Directors from 2019 to 2022. Flaherty provides important guidance as a current member of the AACR Clinical Trials Advisory Council (2023-present) and the AACR Project GENIE External Advisory Board (2015-present). He is a former member of the AACR Exploratory IND/Phase 0 Clinical Trials Task Force (2021-2025), the Fellows of the AACR Academy Nominating Committee (2024-2025), the AACR COVID-19 and Cancer Task Force (2020-2022), the AACR Publications Committee (2014-2017), and the AACR NextGen Grants for Transformative Cancer Research Review Committee (2015).

Flaherty has played a critical role in shaping the AACR Annual Meetings by serving as chair (2023-2024), vice chair (2020-2021), and cochair (2012-2013, 2010) of the Annual Meeting Program Committee. He was a member of the Annual Meeting Clinical Trials Committee (2018-2020, 2016-2018, 2012-2013) and chair of the Clinical Trials and Clinical Pharmacology Section of the Annual Meeting Program Committee (2013). He has also helped to guide other AACR scientific conferences and workshops by serving as a member of the AACR Virtual Conference: COVID-19 and Cancer Program Committee (2020), a faculty member of the AACR Clinical Trial Design Part 1: Clinical Trial Design for Targeted Therapies Workshop (2018), and chair of the AACR Special Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine (2010).

In addition, Flaherty previously served as the editor-in-chief (2016-2025) and senior editor (2010-2016) of the AACR journal Clinical Cancer Research. He has also served as scientific editor for the AACR journal Cancer Discovery (2010-2017).

Flaherty has been honored with numerous awards throughout his career, most notably the OncLive Giants of Cancer Care Award for Melanoma (2020), the Society for Melanoma Research Lifetime Achievement Award (2019), the National Cancer Institute Michaele C. Christian Oncology Development Lectureship and Award (2015), the Mass General Cancer Center Harrison Clinical Research Award (2013), and the Peter Fink Memorial Lectureship (2013).

Flaherty earned his undergraduate degree in neurobiology at Yale University and his medical degree at Johns Hopkins University.

ADDITIONAL LEADERSHIP CHANGES

AACR President-Elect

Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, FAACR, was elected the AACR President-Elect for 2026-2027. He will assume the Presidency at the AACR Annual Meeting in April 2027 in Orlando. Vonderheide is director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the John H. Glick, MD, Abramson Cancer Center’s Director Professor in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. He is vice dean for cancer programs at the Perelman School of Medicine; vice president of cancer programs and lead physician for the cancer service line for the University of Pennsylvania Health System; and president of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute.

Immediate Past President

Lillian L. Siu, MD, FAACR, will serve as the Immediate Past President of the AACR for 2026-2027. Siu is a senior medical oncologist, director of the Phase I Clinical Trials Program, codirector of the Robert and Maggie Bras and Family Drug Development Program, clinical lead for the Tumor Immunotherapy Program, and the BMO Chair in Precision Cancer Genomics at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. She is also a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.