Candace S. Johnson, PhD

Dr. Candace S. Johnson joined the faculty of Roswell Park Cancer Institute in February 2002, and is currently President & CEO, the Wallace Family Chair in Translational Research, and Professor of Oncology.

Prior to her appointment as RPCI President & CEO, Dr. Johnson was Deputy Director of the Institute and also Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics for more than a decade. Her major responsibilities were to facilitate the seamless bench-to-bedside development and delivery of promising new cancer therapies involving prostate, lung, breast, bladder, and other types of cancer.

From 1997-2002, Dr. Johnson served as Deputy Director of Basic Research at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dr. Johnson earned her doctoral degree in Immunology from Ohio State University, Columbus, in 1977. From 1977 to 1981, she completed research and postdoctoral fellowships in Immunology/Cell Biology at the Michigan Cancer Foundation, Detroit.

Dr. Johnson’s research interests include translational research to facilitate the efficient application of promising laboratory findings in clinical studies; preclinical design and development of more effective therapeutic approaches to cancer using highly characterized tumor models; and mechanisms of vitamin D mediated antiproliferative effects either alone or in combination with other cytotoxic agents.

Dr. Johnson is a member of the National Institutes of Health Reviewers Reserve and has served as a member of the National Cancer Institute Review Group Subcommittee A Cancer Center (Parent Committee) and of the Experimental Therapeutics Study Section (2) for 2 terms. She also is a member of many professional and scientific societies, Senior Editor of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Associate Editor of Molecular and Cellular Differentiation, Oncology, and Molecular Pharmacology, and a member of the editorial board of Oncology Reports and Molecular Pharmacology.



Dr. Johnson has authored or coauthored nearly 200 journal publications, book chapters and abstracts, and has been issued patents on the "Use of Pretreatment Chemicals to Enhance Efficacy of Cytotoxic Agents" and “Endothelial Specific Targeting.” Additionally, she was the recipient of the 2013 Dr. Thomas B. Tomasi Hope Award; the 2013 Medaille College Excellence in Leadership Award; the 2010 University of Pittsburgh Innovator Award; and in 2010 was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science.