PAWS Professional Development Seminar - Dr. Joann Sweasy

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Joann Sweasy to talk with us via zoom about her research, career path, and professional experiences!

Joann Sweasy, PhD

I am the Director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center. I also have served as a Member of NCI-subcommittee A since 2017 and am a Member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Cancer Institutes. As Director, I have led and completed the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan; completed a comprehensive assessment of all CCSG components and implemented recommendations, including updating programmatic aims and themes and restructuring of Shared Resources; established the Office of Cancer Research Training and Education; expanded Community Outreach and Engagement; and launched the Arizona Clinical Trials Network. Previously, I served as Associate Director for Basic Sciences at the Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center (2015-2019). In this capacity, I led strategic planning for basic sciences in the ~300-member Cancer Center, directed the development of translational research infrastructure, and directed the pilot and limited opportunity funding program. I have been continuously funded by the NCI since 1994 for my research on the genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry of DNA repair and the roles of aberrant DNA repair in cancer and autoimmunity. For this work I was awarded the 2016 Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Award. I am an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences and Engineering and currently hold the Nancy C. and Craig L. Berge Endowed Chair for the Director of the Cancer Center. I have trained nine graduate students and 22 postdoctoral associates. As the principal investigator of the American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant, I developed and led a mentoring program for early-stage investigators. I was awarded the 2017 Yale Postdoctoral Mentoring Award. Over 50% of my trainees are women and include persons from diverse backgrounds. I have also served as Director of Graduate Studies of the Microbiology Program, in which I oversaw the rigorous education of graduate students. Several of my projects are collaborative in nature and as the lead PI, I have successfully directed the studies, ensuring scientific rigor and the use of unbiased methodology, resulting in the publication of several high-quality papers in peer-reviewed journals.