Charles S. Fuchs to lead Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital

After an extensive national search, Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven and Yale Cancer Center (YCC) have announced that Dr. Charles S. Fuchs will become the new YCC director and physician-in-chief at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, effective Jan. 1, 2017.

Fuchs will be taking the reins of the most comprehensive cancer facility in New England. Smilow Cancer Hospital is a 14-story, 500,000-square-foot facility that includes 168 private inpatient rooms, multidisciplinary outpatient treatment centers, 12 operating rooms, infusion suites, diagnostic imaging services, and specialized women’s and children’s services. Yale Cancer Center is a collaboration between nationally and internationally renowned scientists and physicians at Yale School of Medicine and Smilow Cancer Hospital.

An internationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal cancers and cancer epidemiology, Fuchs is currently professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of the gastrointestinal oncology division and the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Fuchs’ clinical expertise as the new leader of the Smilow Cancer Hospital,” said Richard D’Aquila, president of Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale New Haven Health. “His breadth of experience in both the clinical and research arms of oncology will move Yale New Haven Health into the next phase of growth.”

Fuchs has spearheaded clinical trials that have resulted in FDA approval of new drugs for patients. He plans to continue to expand clinical trials and science at YCC and will seek to align these efforts with discoveries that emerge across Yale’s research enterprise. His vision is to advance Yale’s capacity to do innovative clinical, translational, population, and basic research to further enhance Yale’s position as a leader in cancer prevention, biology and treatment.

“Charlie’s scientific renown and contributions, which include discoveries about the underpinnings of cancer, insights into prevention and developing new therapies, speak for themselves,” said Dr. Robert J. Alpern, dean of Yale University School of Medicine. “His considerable experience will be an asset to the Cancer Center as we build upon the solid foundation that’s already in place.”

“The Cancer Center and Smilow have had impressive growth over the past five years,” said Fuchs. “I’m excited about the opportunity to continue to expand the breadth and depth of the clinical practice as well as the extraordinary cancer research ongoing at Yale to meaningfully improve the outcome of patients.”

Fuchs received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1986. He completed his medical residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he also served as chief medical resident, and completed his medical oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In 1994, he received his M.P.H. from Harvard School of Public Health. He has written over 550 scientific publications and, most recently, served as a member of the National Cancer Institute Blue Ribbon Panel Working Group.

Dr. Peter Schulam, chair of the department of urology and chief of urology at Yale New Haven Hospital, served as interim YCC director for the past year and will continue in that role until Fuch’s arrival in January.