W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, MMHC, is the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute of the National Cancer Institute, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023. She served as the Hugh Jackson Morgan Professor and Chair of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), and Physician-in-Chief for Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics, also having served as Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, and Deputy Director for Research Integration and Career Development at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Prior to Vanderbilt, Rathmell served on faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) where she was co-director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Graduate Training Program in Translational Medicine, Associate Director for Training and Education at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Associate Director and Alexander Family Chair in Translational Research for the Medical Scientist Training Program. A chemistry and biology graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Rathmell earned her PhD in biophysics and MD from Stanford University. She completed Internal Medicine internship at the University of Chicago and Internal Medicine residency and Medical Oncology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, completing her postdoctoral studies with Dr. Celeste Simon. A physician-scientist, Rathmell’s work focuses on the treatment and research of renal cell carcinomas. Her research resulted in over 20 years of funding from the National Institutes of Health, and more than 300 articles in leading peer-reviewed journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, PNAS, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI). She is a member of The Cancer Genome Atlas, winning the 2021 American Association for Cancer Research Team Science Award, and served on the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors, the American Physician Scientist Association Board of Directors, the Keystone Symposia Board of Directors, and the Forbeck Foundation Scientific Board of Directors. She served as senior editor for eLIFE, and  on editorial boards for JCI, and JCO-Precision Oncology.

Rathmell was a long-term member of the ASCI Council, serving as Councilor, Secretary-Treasurer, and President. During her service on the ASCI Council she led changes for young physician-scientists, bolstering the early career components of the society and enhancing advocacy and development, and served during the founding of the second journal of the society, JCI Insight.Rathmell has been elected to the Association of American Physicians, the American Clinical and Climatological Society, and as fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in recognition of her research achievements and contributions to the mentorship of physician-scientists, Rathmell was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.