Raymond Bergan Appointed Director of Stony Brook Cancer Center
Stony Brook Cancer Center has named Raymond C. Bergan, MD, as its next director, effective August 1.
Bergan comes to Stony Brook Medicine from the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he currently serves as the Bill Bures and Jerry Pabst Chair in Cancer Research and Professor. He also held the role as Deputy Director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
Before his time in Nebraska, Bergan was chief of the Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology, DeArmond Chair of Cancer Research, co-leader of the Translational Oncology Program and associate director of the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. While there he increased patient referrals and clinical trials accruals and helped the Center achieve National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also successfully launched the SMMART trials program which uses multiomic characterization of tumors for real-time design of targeted therapies that are personalized for each individual patient.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Bergan to Stony Brook Cancer Center family,” said William Wertheim, MD, executive vice president at Stony Brook Medicine. “His extensive expertise in cancer research and personalized medicine are invaluable assets for our institution. We are confident that under his leadership, the Cancer Center will continue to excel in groundbreaking innovation in cancer treatment and prevention.”
Bergan’s laboratory research has focused on cancer metastases. His team discovered the first precision-acting drug to inhibit cancer cell motility and metastasis and unraveled its mechanism of action. He worked with bioengineers to develop lab-on-chip systems to understand cancer cell-microenvironment interactions and new assays for measuring cell movement in humans. He has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in high-impact journals, and garnered more than $54 million in sponsored research support, mostly from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Bergan has served on numerous study sections and advisory committees for the NCI, including NCI Subcommittee A, which conducts cancer center site visit reviews. Over the years he has received numerous awards and honors for teaching and mentoring, and in 2023, he was named a Distinguished Scientist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
In assuming the Cancer Center directorship, Bergan will be returning to his New York roots. He received his BS in Biochemistry from the University of Buffalo and his MD from SUNY Upstate Medical Center, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. After a fellowship in medical oncology and drug discovery research at the National Cancer Institute, he joined the faculty at Northwestern University. Bergan served as director of experimental therapeutics and leader of the Cancer Prevention Program for Northwestern’s Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. There, he founded one of only five NCI-funded Early Phase Cancer Chemoprevention Programs, a model that was subsequently expanded to 19 research institutions in two countries.
Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, stepped down as head of the Cancer Center in 2022 but has been serving as the interim director until a nationwide search was completed to fill the role. Hannun will remain at Stony Brook Medicine and continue to support the Cancer Center through his research on lipids and cancer biology, work that led to a fundable score for an NIH program project grant application.
Stony Brook Cancer Center is Suffolk County’s cancer care leader and a leader in education and research. With more than 1,500 inpatient discharges and 70,000 outpatient visits annually, the Cancer Center includes 13 multidisciplinary teams. The cancer program is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. To learn more, visit cancer.stonybrookmedicine.edu.