Patierno Named Deputy Director

Steven R. Patierno, PhD, has been named Deputy Director of the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI). Patierno will serve as the DCI’s senior administrator and scientific and operational leader across a broad spectrum of activities including Cancer Control, Health Equities and Health Disparities, Global Health, Survivorship, Informatics, and Cancer Policy. 

Patierno most recently served as Executive Director of the George Washington Cancer Institute and as Director of the Molecular and Cellular Oncology Program at George Washington University Medical Center. He is the Vivian Gill Distinguished Professor of Oncology and was Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, Genetics and Urology in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He was also Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, and Global Health in the School of Public Health and Health Services. He is founding Director of the GW Molecular and Cellular Oncology PhD Program.

An internationally recognized researcher, Patierno is a leading expert in cancer causation and carcinogenesis. His research laboratory, which focuses on lung, prostate, breast, and skin cancers, has made major contributions to our understanding of the role of genetic damage in the balance of cell death and survival. In addition, his laboratory has explored the mechanisms of development of cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy and the development of bio-therapeutics that control the metastatic spread of cancer.

Patierno has authored over 100 scientific journal articles and book chapters. He earned his doctoral degree at the Graduate School of Biomedical Science, University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, and was awarded the prestigious Rosalie B. Hite Graduate Fellowship in Cancer Research at the MD Anderson Cancer Institute.