Dr. Cheryl Willman to Head Mayo Clinic Cancer Programs

“With tremendous support from UNM, the State of New Mexico and the communities we serve, we built the cancer center with a clear purpose and an ethical imperative: to assure that all New Mexicans would have access to state-of-the-art cancer treatment and the opportunity to participate in advances in cancer research conducted in a collaborative respectful way, right here in their home state, surrounded by family and friends who love and support them.”

Willman and her team’s strategy took advantage of New Mexico’s opportunities and challenges, including access to the nation’s most advanced science and technology and the challenge of addressing and overcoming overwhelming cancer health disparities in urban and rural communities and tribal nations.

“In our science, we focused on discovering the causes and developing the cures and means to prevent cancers that disproportionately affect the people of New Mexico,” Willman said. “Our clinical mission was to not only develop state-of-the-art cancer diagnosis and treatment facilities at UNM in Albuquerque, but also a statewide collaborative network in partnership with community-based health care systems and cancer practices. In education, we sought to provide opportunities to train members of all of our communities in cancer medicine, research and public health.”

One of the most preeminent NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation

When Willman and her team started in 2000, the UNM Cancer Center had 12 cancer physicians in various oncology specialties and $7 million in cancer research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and other agencies. Today, the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center has 143 board-certified medical, surgical, radiation, gynecologic and pediatric cancer physicians, and 106 cancer scientists who are awarded more than $50 million annually in federal funding for cancer research.

Under Willman’s leadership, the UNM Cancer Center achieved designation and federal funding from the National Cancer Institute in 2005, and in 2015, was designated as one of the nation’s pre-eminent National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers, the highest federal designation status, awarded to only the top 3% of cancer centers in the nation.

“Cheryl Willman is truly a visionary leader and has been a significant agent of change for not only the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, but also for our university and the entire state of New Mexico,” said UNM President Garnett S. Stokes. “Her contributions and those of the incredible team she has brought together have helped to shape the world-class cancer care our patients experience today.”

Leading in World-Class Quality Patient Care, innovative Cancer Research and Education

“The UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center has an outstanding leadership team, and I am confident that they will lead the center to new heights and will continue to have a tremendous impact on the people of New Mexico,” Willman said.

Alan Tomkinson, PhD, will assume the role of Interim Director of the Cancer Center and as principal investigator of the Center’s NCI Cancer Center Support Grant. Carolyn Muller, MD, currently Associate Director for Clinical Research, will serve as Interim Deputy Director of the Center’s NCI Cancer Center Support Grant. Zoneddy Dayao, MD, will continue in her role as Deputy Director for Clinical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, in charge of the center’s cancer care delivery mission.

Willman is a pioneer in the field of cancer precision medicine. Her own research focuses on the use of genomic, next-generation genome sequencing and computational technologies to discovery novel cancer-causing mutations that can be translated to better cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. She co-led the National Cancer Institute's Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments Project, also known as TARGET. A component of the NCI Cancer Genome Atlas Project, TARGET focused on genomic sequencing of high-risk leukemias in children and adults.

Through these studies, she and her collaborators discovered novel leukemia-causing mutations more frequently seen in Hispanics and American Indians, providing insights into why these groups had historically failed to respond to treatments developed primarily through studies of non-Hispanic Whites. These discoveries have been translated to several national clinical trials for leukemia sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, leading to significant improvements in patient outcomes.

Continued Collaboration

Willman, her colleagues at the University of New Mexico, and collaborators from the Translational Genomics Research Institute and the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health are now leading one of the nation's National Cancer Institute Participant Engagement-Cancer Genome Sequencing Research Centers.

Through collaboration and partnerships with tribal nations in New Mexico and Arizona, they are focused on discovering the genomic, environmental and behavioral mechanisms underlying cancers that disproportionately affect American Indians and Hispanics, leading to disparities in incidence and outcome. Through culturally respectful community engagement and real-time return of clinical genomic sequencing results to American Indian patients and engagement of communities, they seek to assure beneficence of this work and to improve patient lives. Willman will continue to lead and expand this initiative here at UNM as she transitions to her new role at Mayo Clinic.

About Dr. Cheryl Willman

Willman has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for more than 30 years. She is a highly cited physician-scientist who has published more than 250 papers, reporting her work in the highest-quality medical and scientific journals.

She also holds 11 patents or patents pending.

She has received numerous awards from the National Cancer Institute, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and W.M. Keck Foundation, among others. She also was a co-founder and president of the Association for Molecular Pathology and is a member of the Department of Energy Women in Science Hall of Fame.

Willman serves on the National Cancer Institute's Board of Scientific Advisors, the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, the National Cancer Institute-Department of Energy Collaborative Working Group, and the scientific advisory boards of 10 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.

She has received several distinguished public service awards, including the 16th Governor's Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women (2001); the New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Award (2005); the New Mexico La Estrella Award (2013) and the New Mexico Humanitarian Award, 2014. In 2017, she was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Willman received her medical degree in 1981 from Mayo Medical School, now Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, in Rochester, Minn. She received one of the first Physician-Scientist Awards in 1984 from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Willman completed her residency and postdoctoral training in pathology and cancer research at Mayo Clinic, The University of New Mexico and the University of Washington.