People

James E. Bradner, MD, began his new role as president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Cambridge, MA, effective March 1. He succeeds Mark Fishman, MD, who retired after 13 years with Novartis.

Most recently, Bradner was a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, and a hematologist in the Department of Medical Oncology at the nearby Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research focuses on creating molecules to control gene expression in cancer. For example, studies on the link between BET bromodomains and cancer led his lab to develop a first-in-class BET inhibitor called JQ1, which also has been shown to help prevent heart failure. In addition, he has worked to develop strategies to induce targeted protein degradation.

For more news on cancer research, visit Cancer Discovery online at http://cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org/content/early/by/section.