Lillian L. Siu, MD, FAACR, Elected as American Association for Cancer Research President-Elect for 2024-2025
Five new members elected to the Board of Directors
PHILADELPHIA – The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected Lillian L. Siu, MD, Fellow of the AACR Academy, as the AACR President-Elect for 2024-2025. Siu will become President-Elect on Monday, April 8, during the AACR’s Annual Business Meeting of Members at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 in San Diego, California. She will assume the Presidency in April 2025 at the AACR Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
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. Throughout her career, Siu has made crucial contributions to anticancer drug development and translational and clinical research. Her innovative research dedicated to optimizing clinical trial design and execution has resulted in the accelerated discovery and development of novel immunotherapeutics and molecularly targeted therapeutics for patients with head and neck cancers as well as gastrointestinal malignancies.
As the AACR’s next President-Elect, Siu will work with the Officers and Directors of the AACR Board and the AACR membership at large, which includes more than 58,000 members in 141 countries and territories, to further the AACR’s mission to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, science policy and advocacy, and funding for cancer research.
“I am deeply honored to serve as the AACR President-Elect for 2024-2025,” said Siu. “I am excited to have the opportunity to connect with AACR members globally, working collaboratively to translate promising cancer research into meaningful improvements in patient care. Additionally, I am thrilled to play a part in expanding AACR’s educational initiatives through workshops and conferences on a global scale.”
“Dr. Siu’s visionary leadership as a researcher and clinician has led to transformative advancements in cancer research and patient care,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “Moreover, her extensive service and sincere dedication to the AACR have been truly remarkable. We are thrilled that Dr. Siu has been elected to serve as the AACR’s 2024-2025 President-Elect and 2025-2026 President. We look forward to working with her in support of our shared mission to prevent and cure all cancers.”
Siu has been a member of the AACR since 1996 and was recently elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy. She has greatly contributed to the growth of the AACR through her leadership and involvement with numerous AACR committees and association groups. She is a member of the AACR International-Canada Board of Directors (2020-present) and AACR Finance and Audit Committee (2019-present) and a former member of the AACR Board of Directors (2017-2020). Siu has been invaluable in shaping AACR Annual Meetings by serving as a cochair (2016, 2012) and member (2014) of the Annual Meeting Program Committee; cochair (2016-2017) and member (2014-2016, 2012-2013) of the Annual Meeting Clinical Trials Committee; and chair (2012) and member (2011) of the Annual Meeting Education Committee. She will serve as a chair of the 2025 Annual Meeting Program Committee. She has also expertly contributed to other AACR meetings, special conferences, and workshops by serving as scientific committee cochair of the AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium (2021-2022); cochair of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Advancing Precision Medicine Drug Development (2020); and cochair (2008-2010) and faculty member (2003-2007, 1998) of the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop.
Siu has provided important guidance as a member of the AACR Asian/Asian American Task Force (2023-present); Clinical Trials Advisory Council (2023-present); International Affairs Committee (2018-2020); Regional Advisory Committee on Canada (2016-2019); SU2C/AACR Catalyst™ Initiative Grants Executive Committee (2016); Women in Cancer Research Council (2013-2016); Clinical and Translational Cancer Research Grants Committee (2010); Henry Shepard Bladder Cancer Research Grants Scientific Review Committee (2009); and International Membership Committee (2002-2003). She has supported the AACR’s Scientific Achievement Awards Program by serving as a member of the AACR-Waun Ki Hong Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research Committee (2017-2019); member of the Nominating Committee (2014-2016); chair of the Landon Foundation-AACR Innovator Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research Committee (2012-2014); and member of the AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship Committee (2008).
In addition, Siu has supported the AACR’s journals by serving as editor-in-chief of Cancer Research Communications (2021-present); member of the Publications Committee (2016-present); and scientific editor of Cancer Discovery (2011-2021).
Siu has been recognized with numerous awards throughout her career, including the Canadian Cancer Trials Group Maria Ricci Lectureship (2023); the American Society of Clinical Oncology International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award (2020); the European Society for Medical Oncology Targeted Anticancer Therapies Honorary Award (2020); the University of Toronto Michael Hutcheon Mentor Award (2017), Eaton Research Scholar Researcher of the Year (2016), and Elsie Winifred Crann Memorial Trust Award in Medical Research (2001); and the National Cancer Institute Michaele C. Christian Oncology Development Lectureship and Award (2010). Siu is an elected fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2023) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (2015).
Siu received her medical degree at the University of Toronto. She completed the Canadian Association of Medical Oncology Fellowship in Oncopharmacology at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and a clinical research fellowship in new drug development at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
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Newly elected members of the AACR Board of Directors
The AACR Board of Directors consists of world-renowned leaders in all areas of cancer research. The following five individuals have been elected to the AACR Board of Directors for the 2024-2027 term:
Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, is chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Walter B. Wriston Professor of Pancreatic Cancer Research, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York. He is also associate director for clinical services at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. [Photo]
Electra D. Paskett, PhD, is founding director of the Center for Cancer Health Equity and deputy director of population sciences and community outreach at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, Columbus, Ohio. She is also the Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research and director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. [Photo]
Katerina A. Politi, PhD, is a professor of pathology and internal medicine; coleader, Cancer Signaling Networks Research Program; scientific director, Center for Thoracic Cancers; codirector, Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer; and member, Yale Stem Cell Center, Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. [Photo]
Jean-Charles Soria, MD, PhD, is the senior vice president, Global Oncology Development at Amgen in Thousand Oaks, California. [Photo]
Catherine J. Wu, MD, FAACR, is chief of the Division of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies, Lavine Family Chair for Preventative Cancer Therapies, and a physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School; and institute member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts. [Photo]