Caryn Lerman, PhD, director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, has begun her two-year term as president of the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), the organization announced on June 1.

Lerman, who’s also a professor of Psychiatry & the Behavioral Sciences, the H. Leslie Hoffman and Elaine S. Hoffman Chair in Cancer Research, and associate dean for cancer programs at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, joined the AACI Board of Directors in 2019 and was elected vice president/president-elect in 2020. 

Lerman will begin her two-year term four months early due to Karen E. Knudsen, MBA, PhD, stepping down to become the new chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. Lerman will formally announce her presidential initiative at the 2021 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting in October.

Lerman’s experience in cancer center leadership spans more than 20 years. Internationally recognized for cancer prevention research that bridges the fields of genomics, pharmacology, and population science, Lerman has deep knowledge of multiple frameworks of cancer discovery and innovation from basic and translational/clinical science to population-based research and biotechnology. A major focus of her research is on biology-driven science to reduce cancer risk behaviors. 

An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Lerman has served as a member of the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors, the National Human Genome Research Advisory Council, and the National Institutes on Drug Abuse Advisory Council. She is also past president of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and has received numerous awards for her work, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Control Award, the American Society of Preventive Oncology Joseph Cullen Award, the Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health, and the National Institutes of Health Matilda White Riley Award. 

This story contains information provided by AACI.