Oregon Health & Science University interim president Steve Stadum, J.D., on Thursday, March 20, sent the following message to the OHSU community.

Dear colleagues,

I am excited to announce the appointment of Shivaani Kummar, M.D., FACP, as interim Knight Cancer Chief Executive of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. She will serve until OHSU's new president is able to recruit a permanent leader for the institute. The Knight Cancer Chief Executive provides strategic leadership for the Knight Cancer Institute’s research, clinical, and education programs and is the primary internal and external representative of the institute. Within the Knight's structure, the Knight Cancer Institute Director, Thomas Sellers, Ph.D., and the Cancer Business Unit report to the Knight Cancer Chief Executive, as do Knight Cancer Institute’s administrative operations.

Apart from serving as interim Knight chief executive, Dr. Kummar will also serve in a newly established position as chief of the Cancer Business Unit, a key and growing part of the OHSU health system, and will help integrate OHSU's clinical oncology services with those of Legacy Health System, should the OHSU + Legacy integration occur.

Dr. Kummar was recruited to OHSU in 2020 from Stanford University to lead the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology in the OHSU School of Medicine and serve as co-director for the Knight Cancer Institute’s Center for Experimental Therapeutics. She will remain in these leadership roles. Her clinical work is focused on conducting early phase clinical trials and caring for patients who enroll in those trials. In 2022, she was named a co-deputy director of the Knight Cancer Institute, alongside Lisa Coussens, Ph.D. Most recently, Dr. Kummar was named to the prestigious National Cancer Policy Forum, part of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, to help identify national high-priority policy issues in cancer research and care.

The OHSU Knight Cancer Institute is the only National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center between Seattle and Sacramento and serves a critically important role in OHSU’s state-mandated mission to improve the health and well-being of people in Oregon and beyond. Nate Selden, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the School of Medicine, and I recently attended a meeting of the Knight's External Advisory Committee and were proud to hear committee members describe the Knight Cancer Institute as a "jewel in the Pacific Northwest" and note the "wonderful team" of faculty and staff.

I am confident that Dr. Kummar is the leader OHSU needs to help the Knight Cancer Institute best serve our patients, support Knight faculty members and staff as they build momentum and carry forward their impact, enhance all of OHSU’s mission activities, and foster the university’s long-term success. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Kummar.

Sincerely,

Steve Stadum, J.D.
Interim President