St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

The Fall 2026 season of The Science of Childhood Cancer virtual lecture series continues this month with lectures exploring survivorship, immunotherapy, and targeted therapies, showcasing discoveries that are advancing pediatric cancer research and helping shape the future of patient care. This month's speakers include Bente Mikkelsen, MD, MHA; Justin Eyquem, PhD; Loren Walensky, MD, PhD; and Tyler Jacks, PhD. Join us each Thursday at noon CT/1 p.m. ET for engaging presentations and live Q&A sessions with experts from across the field. Sign up for the free series: bit.ly/4fRJsWM

What drives leukemia cells to develop different metabolic programs, even when they appear similar under a microscope? That question is central to the work of Sarada Achyutuni, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the St. Jude Center of Excellence for Leukemia Studies and in the lab of Jian Xu, PhD. Her research explores how lineage identity, cell of origin and genetic alterations shape leukemia metabolism, helping scientists better understand the biological factors that influence disease behavior and therapeutic response. “Ultimately, I hope to build a metabolic atlas of leukemia, not simply a catalog of altered pathways, but a structured framework that explains the logic behind those alterations,” Achyutuni said. Mentorship continues to play an important role in Achytuni’s scientific development as she continues that work. She credits Xu and Min Ni, PhD, with helping her approach research with greater mechanistic depth and conceptual clarity. Their guidance emphasizes hypothesis-driven experiments that connect individual findings to larger biological questions. “Jian and Min demonstrate that kindness and integrity are integral to scientific excellence,” Achyutuni said. “Their guidance has helped me develop foresight into framing questions and sharper insight into interpreting data.”

For nearly 46 years, Dale June, RN, has been a constant presence at St. Jude, caring for patients and families while helping shape a culture of compassion that extends far beyond the bedside. As the longest-tenured nurse in St. Jude history, June witnessed transformative advances in pediatric medicine and worked under five hospital CEOs. Along the way, she remained committed to understanding the science behind the care she provided, studying treatment protocols and continually expanding her knowledge to better serve patients. Yet colleagues say her greatest contribution was not what she knew, but how she made people feel. She built meaningful connections with patients and families, mentored new nurses and found countless ways to support coworkers during difficult moments. Her approach demonstrated that exceptional care is rooted in both clinical expertise and human connection. “She's very compassionate about what she does and always willing to do whatever is needed to train new nurses coming into the unit,” said Vanessa Lesure-Ross, RN. “She shows love to all of the patients and families and goes above and beyond in her care, giving the individual attention that's needed to each patient.” As June begins retirement, her legacy serves as a reminder that lasting impact is often measured not in years of service, but in the people whose lives are changed along the way.

Jeremy Slone, MD, MPH, has been named medical director of the St. Jude Affiliate Program Office. Slone will lead a program that spans six affiliate sites and one satellite across six states, supporting a network that helps connect patients to St. Jude clinical trials while enabling many children to receive care closer to home. The Affiliate Program plays an important role in extending the reach of pediatric cancer care and research beyond Memphis, serving patient populations across a broad geographic region. An associate member in Global Pediatric Medicine and Director of the Hospitalist Medicine Program, Slone joined St. Jude in 2021 from Baylor College of Medicine. His background includes leadership in pediatric hematology and oncology, as well as experience overseeing international programs focused on expanding access to care. The Affiliate Program operates in a complex clinical environment, coordinating the care of patients who move between Memphis and affiliate sites or who receive care exclusively through an affiliate. The program also supports enrollment in St. Jude clinical trials, helping ensure that more children have access to innovative treatment options. Under Slone's leadership, the Affiliate Program will continue its mission of expanding access to high-quality pediatric cancer care, strengthening collaboration across affiliate sites and helping more children benefit from advances in research and treatment.

Inherited changes in DNA can influence cancer risk and understanding that inherited risk can help researchers and clinicians identify opportunities for earlier screening, surveillance and prevention. Kim Nichols, MD, St. Jude Division of Cancer Predisposition director and Department of Oncology member, studies the genetic factors that contribute to cancer development and progression. Her work connects specialized clinical care and genomic research to improve risk assessment, guide screening strategies and inform future approaches to cancer prevention and treatment. At St. Jude scientists are uncovering the biological factors that shape inherited cancer risk and using those insights to improve risk assessment, surveillance and prevention strategies. Nichols said, “As we better understand the genetic and biological framework of cancer predisposition, we can begin to think more broadly about how to detect risk earlier and positively change the outcomes for patients and their family members through early detection and prevention, both locally and around the world.” Learn more: bit.ly/4ieBgTp

There are moments in this work that stay with you. A laboratory discovery that moves us one step closer to changing a child’s life. Or more profoundly, a visit with a patient that drives home what urgency really means.   Over the years, I have experienced many such moments firsthand — and seen the compassion our care teams bring to families, the persistence of our scientists as they pursue answers that don’t come easily, and the dedication of people across St. Jude Children's Research Hospital who understand that progress is measured not only in discovery, but in what that discovery makes possible for children. In leading the Comprehensive Cancer Center, I have seen again and again that the most meaningful advances are driven by collaboration, bringing together different expertise in pursuit of better outcomes for patients and families.   Those experiences are what drew me to this mission, and they continue to shape my sense of responsibility to help advance science in ways that change the future for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. To be named the next president and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a profound honor, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of discovery, innovation and impact.   I am also deeply grateful for the extraordinary leadership of James R. Downing, M.D. Under his tenure, St. Jude has made phenomenal progress and established an exceptional foundation for what comes next. He has exemplified the power of pairing bold scientific vision with an unwavering focus on patients and families.   As I look to the future, I do so with deep appreciation for the people who make this place exceptional and with a clear sense of what collaboration can make possible — connecting discovery and care, learning from one another, and turning our collective effort into better outcomes for children. The mission of St. Jude has never been more important, and I am honored to help carry it forward with a community so committed to finding cures and saving children.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Charles Roberts, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized physician-scientist and current executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, as its next president and CEO. Since joining St. Jude in 2015, Dr. Roberts has helped shape the vision, strategy and growth of the institution’s cancer research and clinical research enterprise, guiding the Cancer Center’s five research programs and strengthening the connection between discovery, translational research and clinical care.    Under his leadership, the Comprehensive Cancer Center has grown in scope and impact, earning the National Cancer Institute’s top “Exceptional” rating in both reviews in the past decade and achieving the best score in institutional history each time. Current St. Jude President and CEO James R. Downing, M.D., described the Cancer Center as “the crown jewel of our research endeavors,” adding that recruiting Dr. Roberts as its director was “one of the absolute best decisions” he has made as CEO.    Dr. Roberts’ appointment as the institution’s seventh president and CEO is rooted in the breadth of his experience as both a physician-scientist and collaborative leader. His research has helped advance the field of cancer epigenetics, deepening understanding of how changes in chromatin remodeling can influence the biology of childhood cancers. At the same time, his leadership has extended beyond his own lab to the broader cancer research community, with recognition as a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy and election to the AACR Board in 2025. At St. Jude, he has carried that same collaborative approach into major initiatives that connect researchers and clinicians across disciplines and institutions, including the St. Jude Research Collaboratives program, the Pediatric Cancer Dependencies Accelerator, The Science of Childhood Cancer virtual lecture series and the Collaborative Academic Developmental Therapeutics initiative with Stanford University and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.    As Dr. Roberts prepares to lead St. Jude into its next chapter, his combination of scientific rigor, clinical perspective and collaborative leadership positions the institution to accelerate progress for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases around the world.    “We are closer than ever before to realizing my father’s dream that no child should die in the dawn of life, thanks in large part to the work of Charlie Roberts over the past decade,” said Marlo Thomas, national outreach director for St. Jude and daughter of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas. “There is no one more qualified to lead St. Jude into the future than Charlie, a brilliant scientist and dedicated physician who truly embodies our mission of finding cures and saving children. I wish my father were here for this remarkable passing of the torch.” 

Discover what's next in your scientific journey at the St. Jude Research Career, Education & Training Virtual Fair on Sept. 22. Whether you're a student, trainee or research professional, this free virtual event offers opportunities to learn about internships, graduate education, postdoctoral training and careers across biomedical research, clinical research, research information technology and data science. Connect with faculty, recruiters, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences representatives, postdoctoral fellows and students through information sessions, panels and career-focused discussions designed to help you take the next step. View the agenda and register for the free event today: bit.ly/4wuNCtZ

Every day, nurses see how disease and treatment affect patients in ways that may not always be captured in a protocol or publication. Those observations can become questions that lead to new evidence that changes practice. When Brittany Bedard, RN, cared for a patient undergoing radiation therapy who faced a high risk of severe esophageal mucositis, she searched for evidence-based interventions that could help reduce this painful side effect. Finding little published research, Bedard partnered with Belinda Mandrell, PhD, RN, and Hannah Clugh, RN, in the St. Jude Division of Nursing Research to investigate whether photobiomodulation therapy could support the patient during treatment. Drawing on expertise developed through years of nursing-led research, the team designed a novel protocol and carefully monitored its impact. The patient experienced minimal pain, maintained nutrition without supplemental feeding and completed therapy without interruptions related to mucositis toxicities. The work builds on broader St. Jude nursing research efforts that have already demonstrated the effectiveness of photobiomodulation in reducing oral mucositis among patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation. As those findings have gained attention, interest in developing similar programs has expanded across pediatric health care. “We were really on the forefront and the first to get this started and really show that, within pediatrics, photobiomodulation is feasible and it has significant efficacy,” Mandrell said. Stories such as this demonstrate the important role nurses play in clinical research. By identifying unmet needs and exploring new solutions, nursing researchers help advance care for patients today and in the future.

Great institutions don’t just state their values. They put them into action. Throughout her career in hospital operations, Maria Papola Megdal has valued mission-driven organizations. That's why the values of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital stood out. As executive vice president and chief administrative officer, Megdal oversees many of the teams and operations that help power the institution's research, treatment and global mission. But a commitment to stewardship first drew her to St. Jude when she joined in 2024. "The first time I read the St. Jude values, I felt like someone was talking to me," Megdal said. “Seeing that stewardship was written into the values meant a lot to me.” After leading operations in complex academic health care and research organizations, Megdal recognized the importance of thoughtful resource management. At St. Jude, she found an institution where stewardship is a shared responsibility that helps ensure every contribution advances the mission of finding cures and saving children. For Megdal, seeing the institution's values reflected in everyday decisions across teams reinforces what makes St. Jude unique: a culture where people are united by purpose and committed to honoring the trust of donors, patients and families.