Emer M. Smyth, PhD

Emer Smyth, PhD, joined the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in November 2016 as director of cancer research alliances and assistant dean for cancer research. Born and raised in Ireland, Smyth received her Bachelor’s Degree in Science and PhD in Pharmacology from the National University of Ireland’s University College Dublin. Before coming to HICCC, Smyth worked at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) as director of the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) translational research grant programs where she managed the administration and scientific review and oversight of US and international “Dream Team” multimillion dollar grants, as well as other funding models. She provided scientific administrative and communications support to SU2C and their funding partners, as well as SU2C scientists and Scientific Advisory Committees, across all phases of program launch, evaluation, selection, and post-award review. Prior to her time with the AACR, Smyth was a research associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where her group investigated a family of inflammatory lipid mediators in breast cancer and vascular disease. She has contributed close to 50 peer-reviewed research publications, scholarly reviews, and chapters over the course of her career thus far. At the HICCC, Smyth manages and directs the operations that establish, enable, and support the discovery efforts of the Celgene Cancer Drug Discovery Consortium. More broadly, she enhances the scope and impact of cancer research at Columbia by supporting development of large scale funding programs in cancer research and increasing awareness of CUMC’s cancer research and care programs, within and beyond Columbia. As a faculty member in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Emer contribute to mentorship and enhances and supports the department’s goals for research and education.

Email: es3551@cumc.columbia.edu