W. Kimryn Rathmell (born November 3, 1969) is an American physician-scientist whose work focuses on the research and treatment of patients with kidney cancers. She is the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute, having previously served as the Hugh Jackson Morgan Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), and Physician-in-Chief for Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] On November 17, 2023, Rathmell was nominated by President Biden as the next Director of the National Cancer Institute[2] and she assumed office on December 18, 2023.
Kimryn Rathmell | |
|---|---|
 Rathmell in 2023 | |
| 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute | |
| Assumed office December 18, 2023 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Monica Bertagnolli |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wendy Kimryn Meyer November 3, 1969 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Spouse | Jeffrey Rathmell |
| Education | University of Northern Iowa (BA, BS) Stanford University (PhD, MD) Vanderbilt University (MS) |
Education
editIn 1991, Rathmell graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Chemistry. She subsequently earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biophysics in 1996 under the mentorship of Gilbert Chu, and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in 1998 from Stanford University.[3] The title of her PhD thesis was "Ku and DNA/PK in the repair of DNA double strand breaks." Following completion of her MD, Rathmell did an Internal Medicine internship at the University of Chicago before attending the University of Pennsylvania where she completed her Internal Medicine residency and Medical Oncology fellowship training. Rathmell completed additional postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of M. Celeste Simon, PhD, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) under the mentorship of Terry Van Dyke, PhD.[4] In 2022, she completed a Master of Management in Health Care at the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University.
Career
editIn 2003, Rathmell joined faculty at UNC where she held primary and secondary appointments in the departments of Medicine and Genetics. While there, she served as Co-Director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Graduate Training Program in Translational Medicine,[5] Associate Director for Training and Education at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Associate Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program.
In 2015, she joined VUMC as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology,[6] with secondary appointments in the departments of Cancer Biology and Biochemistry. Rathmell was successively named Cornelius Abernathy Craig Professor of Medicine.[7] In 2019, she was named Deputy Director for Research Integration and Career Development at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. She was appointed as the Hugh Jackson Morgan Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief for Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics in 2020.[8] She is the second woman to serve as Chair of the Department of Medicine at VUMC, and immediately succeeds Nancy J. Brown.
Rathmell has been actively involved in research related to the genetics and molecular biology of complex renal cancers. A member of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), her research has resulted in more than 200 articles in leading peer-reviewed journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.[9]
Prior to her appointment as Director, Rathmell served on the National Cancer Institute's Board of Scientific Advisors,[10] the Keystone Symposia's Board of Directors[11] and the Forbeck Foundation Scientific Board of Directors. She is a former associate editor for the Journal of Clinical Investigation, and recently[when?] served as senior editor for eLife. She has previously held leadership roles for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (Kidney Cancer Research Program), and the American Society for Clinical Investigation[12] (ASCI), in which she served as secretary-treasurer and society President in 2019-2020.[13]
Rathmell is a 2023 recipient of the Doris Duke Foundation's Paragon Award.[14] She received the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research Team Science Award for TCGA,[15] and the 2019 Eugene P. Schonfeld Award for Outstanding Contributions in Kidney Cancer from the Kidney Cancer Association.[16] Rathmell has been elected to the ASCI,[13] the Association of American Physicians, and as fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[17]
In recognition of her contributions to kidney cancer research and the advancement of the physician-scientist career path, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine,[18] and in 2023, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[19] On December 18, 2023 she assumed her role as the Director of the National Cancer Institute.
Personal life
editRathmell resides in Nashville with her husband, Jeffrey Rathmell, a professor at VUMC and director for the Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology.[20] They have two children.
References
edit- ^ "Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD | Department of Medicine". medicine.vumc.org. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
- ^ "President Biden Intends to Appoint Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell as Director of the National Cancer Institute". 17 November 2023.
- ^ "MSTP Alumni (before 2015)". MSTP MD-PhD Program (in Samoan). Retrieved 2022-04-11.
- ^ "Meet Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD - a kidney cancer doctor at UNC Lineberger". UNC Lineberger. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
- ^ MD Newsletter 2012 med.unc.edu
- ^ "Vanderbilt appoints hematology/oncology division director". www.healio.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
- ^ Clendening, Jill (17 August 2020). "Rathmell named chair of Department of Medicine". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- ^ "Shop talk". Oncology Times. 43 (19): 38–40. October 5, 2021. doi:10.1097/01.COT.0000796040.46442.d6.
- ^ "rathmell wk - Search Results - PubMed". PubMed. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
- ^ Members nih.gov
- ^ [1] keystonesymposia.org
- ^ Stuart, Dagny (20 April 2017). "Vanderbilt's W. Kimryn Rathmell named to ASCI leadership post". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
- ^ a b "The American Society for Clinical Investigation". Retrieved 2022-04-11.
- ^ [2] dorisduke.org
- ^ "AACR Honors Cancer Genome Atlas Researchers with 2020 Team Science Awards". Newsroom. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
- ^ "Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell – physician, scientist, and mentor – received the 2019 Eugene P. Schonfeld Award". Kidney Cancer Association. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
- ^ "AAAS Announces Leading Scientists Elected as 2020 Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
- ^ "NAM Announces Leading Scientists Elected as 2022 Members | National Academy of Medicine". www.nam.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ^ "AAAS New Members Elected in 2023 | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ^ "Jeffrey C. Rathmell, Ph.D. | Pathology, Microbiology And Immunology Education". www.vumc.org. Retrieved 2022-04-08.