MEMPHIS, Tenn. — St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Charles W.M. Roberts, M.D., Ph.D., as its next President and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2027.
Roberts currently serves as Executive Vice President and Director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center. His appointment follows an international search led by executive search firm Spencer Stuart.
“I’m deeply honored to have been selected to lead this institution at a pivotal moment, when emerging technologies are creating unprecedented opportunities to accelerate discovery,” Roberts said. “Meeting this challenge will require collaboration across disciplines, institutions and borders.”
Roberts joined St. Jude in 2015 as Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he has overseen the institution’s cancer research strategy and clinical research enterprise.
Under his leadership, the center received the National Cancer Institute’s highest “Exceptional” rating in two consecutive reviews and achieved its strongest scores in institutional history, according to St. Jude.
“After a global search, Dr. Roberts emerged as the clear choice to lead St. Jude as it continues pursuing its mission of finding cures and saving children,” said Judy Habib, Chair of the St. Jude Board of Governors.
Roberts is a physician-scientist whose research focuses on cancer epigenetics and chromatin remodeling. His work has examined the role of SMARCB1/SNF5 in pediatric rhabdoid tumors and how disruptions in chromatin remodeling complexes contribute to cancer.
St. Jude said his research has contributed to the development of FDA-approved and investigational cancer therapies for children and adults.
Roberts has also led several collaborative research initiatives, including the St. Jude Research Collaboratives program, the Pediatric Cancer Dependencies Accelerator, The Science of Childhood Cancer virtual lecture series and the Collaborative Academic Developmental Therapeutics initiative with Stanford University and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
His scientific honors include election as a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy and the AACR Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research. He was elected to the AACR Board in 2025.
Roberts earned his medical and doctoral degrees from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and completed his pediatric residency and pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
He will succeed James R. Downing, M.D., who announced plans in February to step down as part of a planned leadership transition.
As St. Jude’s seventh President and CEO, Roberts will oversee the organization’s research and clinical programs focused on pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases.
