Dr. Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D., joined NCI as the 18th director on September 29, 2025. He previously served as professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Dr. Letai received his Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from Princeton University. After receiving his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago with Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D., Dr. Letai completed his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His interest in cancer cell death evolved during his post-doctoral research training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Stanley Korsmeyer. His career and pioneering work in functional precision oncology helped advance therapies such as BCL-2 inhibitors—drugs that are now standard treatment for many adults with leukemia. In addition, his team developed a technique, called BH3 profiling, that helps predict how cancer cells will respond to chemotherapies. BH3 profiling is now being tested to discover how it can be used in clinical practice to find the right drugs for the right patients.
An advocate for research that can quickly bring new, effective treatments to patients, Dr. Letai served as co-founder and President of the Society for Functional Precision Medicine , which works to improve patient care and outcomes by supporting the use of functional assays in clinical care. Additionally, he is the recipient of the Sidney Kimmel Foundation Scholar Award, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar Award , the European Cell Death Organization Career Award, the Smith Family Prize for Outstanding Scientific Contributions, the University of Chicago Biomedical Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award. and the NCI Outstanding Investigator Award. He also serves as an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians, and is a Fellow if the American Association of Cancer Research Academy. Dr. Letai’s work has helped transform cancer treatment and advance functional precision medicine.