American Cancer Society Names Four New ACS Professors

As part of the American Cancer Society's newest slate of new grants, we are proud to recognize four exceptional investigators as new ACS Professors: Dr. Stephen Ansell, Dr. Joann Elmore, Dr. Elaine Fuchs, and Dr. Mary Beth Terry. All four of our new ACS Professors are recognized leaders whose work has transformed our understanding of cancer biology, advanced immunotherapy, improved cancer detection and diagnosis, and expanded knowledge of cancer risk and prevention. Collectively, their discoveries have influenced research and patient care across the cancer continuum, and their continued work promises to open new opportunities for progress in the years ahead.

"Being named an ACS Professor reflects not only a history of exceptional scientific achievement, but also a sustained commitment to leadership, mentorship, and service to the cancer research community," said Dr. Christina Anunziata, Senior Vice President, Extramural Discovery Science at the American Cancer Society. "We are thrilled to recognize these four remarkable investigators and provide the flexibility and support they need to pursue innovative research that can accelerate progess against cancer."

The ACS Professor Award is the highest grant award offered by ACS and recognizes researchers whose scientific contributions have had a lasting impact on the field and whose influence extends well beyond their own research programs. In addition to serving as an honorific recognition, the ACS Professorship also provides recipients with flexible funding to pursue bold new ideas and innovative avenues of study that may not be possible through traditional research grants. The award reflects ACS's commitment to supporting scientific leaders whose discoveries continue to advance progress against cancer.

Details about each of the newly named ACS Professors and their research programs are provided below.

Stephen M. Ansell, M.D., Ph.D.

Mayo Clinic – Rochester

Dr. Stephen Ansell is an internationally recognized physician-scientist whose pioneering research has helped advance immunotherapy as a transformative treatment approach for lymphoma. His work has focused on understanding how the tumor microenvironment suppresses immune responses and contributes to lymphoma progression, leading to discoveries that helped establish immune checkpoint blockade as a treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. He currently serves as Chair of the Division of Hematology, Enterprise Deputy Director and Senior Deputy Director for the Midwest of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic. With this award, Dr. Ansell will build on his leadership in lymphoma immunology to identify new immune targets, optimize combination immunotherapies, and develop predictive tools that can personalize treatment, with the goal of improving long-term outcomes for patients whose disease does not achieve durable remission with current therapies.

Joann Elmore, M.D., M.P.H.

University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Joann Elmore is a nationally recognized physician-scientist whose research has transformed the evaluation of cancer screening and diagnostic technologies, with a particular focus on improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing variability in cancer detection. Her influential work demonstrated that an earlier generation of computer-aided mammography tools did not improve cancer detection as expected, helping establish the need for rigorous evaluation of new technologies before widespread clinical adoption. She serves as the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Endowed Chair in Health Care Delivery, Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and Director of the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program. With this award, Dr. Elmore will develop and evaluate artificial intelligence tools for cancer care, study how clinicians interact with AI in real-world settings, assess the performance of these technologies across diverse patient populations, and train researchers, clinicians, and communities to ensure that AI is implemented safely, equitably, and effectively in cancer care.

Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D.

Rockefeller University

Dr. Elaine Fuchs is a world-renowned cell biologist whose pioneering discoveries in stem cell biology and skin biology have transformed our understanding of tissue regeneration, inflammation, and cancer. Over four decades, her research has revealed fundamental mechanisms by which epithelial stem cells maintain and repair tissues, and she was among the first scientists to identify and characterize cancer stem cells and their role in squamous cell carcinoma. Dr. Fuchs is the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor at The Rockefeller University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and her contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the National Medal of Science. During her ACS Professorship, Dr. Fuchs will investigate how epithelial tissues retain long-term “inflammatory memories” through epigenetic changes and how these memories influence cancer risk, with the goal of uncovering new strategies to prevent or reverse the harmful effects of chronic inflammation while preserving its protective benefits.

Mary Beth Terry, Ph.D.

Columbia University

Dr. Mary Beth Terry is a nationally recognized cancer epidemiologist whose research has transformed our understanding of how early-life, environmental, and genetic factors influence breast cancer risk across the lifespan. For more than 25 years, she has led landmark studies examining how exposures during critical developmental periods affect breast cancer risk and has helped demonstrate that risk remains modifiable, even among individuals from high-risk families. She is Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University, Associate Director for Population Sciences and Community Outreach at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Executive Director of the Silent Spring Institute. With this award, Dr. Terry will investigate the environmental and early-life factors driving the rise in breast cancer among young women, refine risk assessment tools that integrate genetic and environmental information, and expand education, mentorship, and community-based programs aimed at reducing breast cancer risk and translating prevention science into practice.