Kersey Memorial Lecture
Announcing the 7th Annual John H. Kersey Memorial Lecture in translational cancer research!
The Masonic Cancer Center is pleased to present Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD for the 7th annual Kersey lecture. The lecture will be hosted in person at the Coffman Memorial Union Theater. Join us after the lecture for a reception with appetizers and light refreshments.
Registration will open soon.
Keynote Speaker: Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD
Kimryn Rathmell is the CEO of the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and previously served as the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from 2023 to 2025. Prior to those roles, Dr. Rathmell 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.
Her research work focuses on investigations into the underlying molecular drivers of kidney tumors, with the goal of identifying strategies to improve the treatment of cancers based on biomarker approaches to defining drivers of the cancer phenotype, or developing better ways to detect these cancers earlier.
In Memory of John H. Kersey, MD
John H. Kersey, MD, was a pioneer in bone marrow transplantation and studies of childhood leukemia. He obtained his MD from the University of Minnesota where he was a lifetime faculty member. Dr. Kersey directed the university's Blood and Marrow Transplant Program from 1974-1995. As Blood and Marrow Transplant Program director, he led the team that completed the world's first successful bone marrow transplant for lymphoma in 1975. Dr. Kersey was founding director of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota 1991-2007 after which he served as director emeritus until his death in 2013. He dedicated his career to the translation of preclinical science to the bedside and was an inspiration for physician-scientists and other researchers, at Minnesota and throughout the world. The Masonic Cancer Center aims to continue his legacy by inviting internationally recognized researchers in translational research to speak at the annual John H. Kersey Memorial Lecture.
Questions? Contact the event organizers at [email protected] or 612-624-7552.