PHILADELPHIA — (May 19, 2026) — The Wistar Institute announces that Dario C. Altieri, M.D., Wistar president and CEO, director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center and Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor, is concluding his tenure at The Wistar Institute to join the faculty of Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University effective January 1, 2027. This move marks a full-time return to laboratory research and mentorship—powerful through-lines in his distinguished scientific career and storied institutional leadership role at Wistar. Both institutions celebrate the transition as a natural next chapter for one of oncology’s most accomplished physician-scientists.
At Jefferson, Dr. Altieri will serve as Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Cancer Biology, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and as Special Advisor to the Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“Dario has been a visionary leader for Wistar, instrumental in advancing the cutting-edge cancer, infectious disease and immunology research that sets The Wistar Institute apart from its peers,” said Rick Horowitz, Chair of The Wistar Institute Board of Trustees. “Under his leadership, major strides have been made in the scale of our research activities, the ground-breaking significance of the science we’re producing, and the breadth of Wistar’s impact on our understanding the biological mechanisms of cancer and immunology. We are indebted to Dr. Altieri for the enormous contributions he has made at the Institute, and we anticipate opportunities for future collaboration with Jefferson that will strengthen the region’s life science sector to drive innovation here and beyond.”
Dr. Altieri led Wistar through a period of unprecedented growth. During his more than 11 years as Wistar president and CEO and over 16 years as director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center, the Institute’s annual budget quadrupled and its endowment tripled. The Institute’s scientific footprint also expanded with the creation of two new research centers. The Center for Advanced Therapeutics unites Wistar scientists with multidisciplinary collaborators to advance the progress of early-stage discoveries toward future therapies, and the HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center seeks a deeper understanding of how viruses work and how the immune system responds, in order to identify life-changing therapies.
The caliber of Wistar’s discovery science and its global impact have been acknowledged with coveted accreditations and performance rankings. During Dr. Altieri’s tenure, Wistar’s National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center earned the highest possible “Exceptional” renewal rating three consecutive times, the only NCI-designated cancer research center in Pennsylvania to achieve this distinction. And in 2025, Wistar’s SCImago ranking, a prestigious independent assessment, placed it in the 3rd percentile overall, 1st percentile for innovation and 6th percentile for research among the world’s leading academic and research-related institutions.
Dr. Altieri’s leadership has helped ensure that Wistar’s impact is felt locally as well as globally, inspiring and guiding the launch of a unique, non-traditional life science apprenticeship program, the only such program recognized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which is opening new pathways into science for the next generation of researchers.
“This institution has a uniquely vibrant and collaborative culture where novel ideas thrive, and it’s built to make enduring impact,” said Horowitz. “Bringing to bear new disciplines and highly innovative technologies through laboratory expansion has shifted the paradigm at Wistar from ‘discovery’ to ‘invention’ of important new ideas, and it’s already accelerating the pace of both foundational science and translation. At this exciting crossroads, we look forward with confidence to all that Wistar will accomplish in the years ahead.”
The Wistar Institute Board of Trustees has commenced a comprehensive national search for Dr. Altieri’s successor. A strong executive leadership team remains in place well positioned to maintain momentum and lead Wistar forward.
ABOUT THE WISTAR INSTITUTE:
The Wistar Institute is the nation’s first independent nonprofit institution devoted exclusively to foundational biomedical research and training. Since 1972, the Institute has held National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center status. Through a culture and commitment to biomedical collaboration and innovation, Wistar science leads to breakthrough early-stage discoveries and life science sector start-ups. Wistar scientists are dedicated to solving some of the world’s most challenging problems in the field of cancer and immunology, advancing human health through early-stage discovery and training the next generation of biomedical researchers. wistar.org
