Charles W.M. Roberts Named Next President and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
The Board of Governors of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Charles W.M. Roberts, MD, PhD, as the institution’s next president and chief executive officer, placing an internationally recognized physician-scientist at the helm of one of the world’s most influential pediatric research centers. Roberts, currently executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, will assume the position on January 1, 2027. His appointment follows an international leadership search conducted with Spencer Stuart and represents a planned transition from James R. Downing, who announced earlier this year that he would step down after more than a decade as CEO. Roberts is expected to lead St. Jude at a moment when advances in genomics, computational biology, immunotherapy and artificial intelligence are rapidly reshaping cancer research and clinical care.
“I’m deeply honored to have been selected to lead this institution at a pivotal moment, when emerging technologies are creating unprecedented opportunities to accelerate discovery,” Roberts said. “Meeting this challenge will require collaboration across disciplines, institutions and borders.” That emphasis on collaboration has defined much of his career. Since joining St. Jude in 2015, Roberts has overseen the scientific vision, strategic development and clinical research activities of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, coordinating work across laboratories, hospitals and external academic partners. Under his leadership, the center received the National Cancer Institute’s highest “Exceptional” rating in consecutive reviews and achieved its strongest institutional score to date. Board of Governors chair Judy Habib said Roberts’ ability to build bridges between disciplines and institutions was a central reason he emerged as the preferred candidate.
Roberts’ own research has focused on the molecular mechanisms that drive aggressive childhood cancers, particularly the way disruptions in chromatin remodeling can alter gene activity. Chromatin is the dynamic complex of DNA and proteins that packages the genome inside a cell. Its structure determines which genes are accessible for transcription and which remain silent. When chromatin-remodeling complexes malfunction, genes that normally restrain cell division may be switched off, while programs supporting uncontrolled growth can become active. Roberts’ laboratory helped clarify tumor-suppressive functions associated with the SMARCB1/SNF5 protein in lethal pediatric rhabdoid tumors, rare cancers that arise from developmental tissues and often affect infants and young children. This work has contributed to the development of therapies that target vulnerabilities created by these epigenetic abnormalities.
Epigenetics is particularly important in pediatric oncology because childhood tumors often carry fewer DNA mutations than adult cancers, yet can be equally aggressive. Instead of relying solely on large numbers of genetic alterations, some pediatric cancers appear to be driven by changes in how the genome is organized and interpreted. By mapping the interaction between chromatin regulators, transcriptional machinery and cancer-promoting pathways, researchers can identify dependencies that tumor cells need to survive. Such dependencies may be targeted with small-molecule drugs or combination therapies. Roberts’ research has helped move discoveries from basic cancer biology toward investigational and FDA-approved treatments relevant to both children and adults, illustrating how mechanistic studies can ultimately influence patient care.
His scientific record has been recognized by major professional organizations. Roberts is a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy and has received the AACR Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research, as well as the Stephen E. Sallan Leadership Award. He is also a member of the Society for Pediatric Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Association of Physicians and the American Pediatric Society. In 2025, he was elected to the AACR Board. Before joining St. Jude, Roberts earned his medical and doctoral degrees from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, completed pediatric residency training at Boston Children’s Hospital and pursued fellowship training in pediatric hematology and oncology at Boston Children’s and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
As director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Roberts has expanded the institution’s collaborative research infrastructure. He has guided the St. Jude Research Collaboratives program, which connects investigators around shared scientific questions, and helped create and co-lead the multi-institutional Pediatric Cancer Dependencies Accelerator. The initiative is designed to discover and validate biological weaknesses that cancer cells cannot easily bypass, potentially creating new therapeutic targets. Roberts also developed The Science of Childhood Cancer, a virtual lecture series intended to make complex findings accessible across the research community, and launched the Collaborative Academic Developmental Therapeutics initiative with Stanford University and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. That program links academic laboratories with clinical investigators to accelerate the testing of promising treatments for children with cancer.
The strategy reflects a broader change in the way pediatric cancer research is conducted. Discoveries increasingly depend on combining disciplines that were once separated: molecular biology, structural biology, pharmacology, data science, engineering and clinical medicine. Large-scale collaborations can provide access to tumor samples, genomic datasets, advanced imaging platforms and specialized disease models that no single institution can assemble alone. They also make it possible to compare findings across populations and health systems, an essential step in determining whether a treatment is broadly effective. Roberts has argued that progress against childhood cancer will require partnerships that extend beyond institutional and national boundaries, particularly as researchers seek to translate laboratory discoveries into therapies that are safer, more precise and available to children worldwide.
Downing, who recruited Roberts to lead the cancer center, said his successor combines scientific ambition with strategic judgment and clinical understanding. “One of the absolute best decisions I made was recruiting Charlie Roberts to become its director,” Downing said. “More than a decade later, I continue to be impressed by his accomplishments and look forward to seeing him apply his vision and strategic leadership to the full breadth of St. Jude.” Frederick M. Azar, chair of the ALSAC Board of Directors, similarly described Roberts as a leader who connects scientific excellence with the needs of patients and families. ALSAC is the fundraising and awareness organization that supports St. Jude and helps sustain its model of providing care to children without charging families for treatment, travel, housing or food.
Roberts will become the seventh president and CEO of St. Jude, overseeing a global organization dedicated to discovering cures and prevention strategies for pediatric catastrophic diseases. His responsibilities will extend beyond cancer to conditions including sickle cell disease and other life-threatening disorders. St. Jude is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted exclusively to children, and it shares the discoveries generated through its research with physicians and scientists worldwide. Since the hospital opened more than 60 years ago, advances developed or supported by St. Jude have helped raise the overall childhood cancer survival rate from approximately 20% to 80%. As Roberts prepares to take office, the institution’s leadership transition will place a researcher known for studying the architecture of the genome in charge of an organization seeking to transform the future of pediatric medicine through science, technology and international cooperation.
Subject of Research: Leadership transition and pediatric cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Article Title: Charles W.M. Roberts Named Next President and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
News Publication Date: August 18, 2026
Web References: https://www.stjude.org/about-st-jude/leadership/boards-of-directors-and-governors.html; https://www.stjude.org/media-resources/news-releases/2025-medicine-science-news/stjude-comprehensive-cancer-center-receives-third-exceptional-rating-from-national-cancer-institute.html; https://www.stjude.org/people/d/james-downing.html; https://www.stjude.org/directory/a/ike-anand.html
References: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; National Cancer Institute; American Association for Cancer Research
Image Credits: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Keywords: Charles W.M. Roberts, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, pediatric cancer, childhood cancer, cancer epigenetics, chromatin remodeling, SMARCB1, SNF5, cancer research, medical science, oncology, scientific leadership
