John DiPersio, MD, PhD

• Myelodisplastic Syndromes

Dr. John F. DiPersio is Chief of the Division of Oncology, Deputy Director of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and the Virginia E. and Samuel J. Golman Professor of Medicine. Dr. DiPersio’s clinical research focuses on fundamental and translational aspects of leukemia and stem cell biology. These studies include identification of genetic abnormalities in human leukemias, understanding processes involving stem cell and leukemia cell trafficking, and clinical and translational programs in both leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome and transplantation immunology.

Among his many accomplishments, Dr. DiPersio was instrumental in developing two drugs, Plerixafor and Ruxolitinib, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2008 and 2019 respectively, for the treatment of multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and graft versus host disease.

Dr. DiPersio is past Chair of ASH Scientific Committee on Hematopoiesis, immediate past President of the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors (Clinical Science and Epidemiology) of the National Cancer Institute, and the 2013 recipient of the Daniel P. Schuster Distinguished Translational Investigator Award from Washington University in St. Louis. He has authored or co-authored more than 450 publications.

Dr. DiPersio earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester and a B.A. in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Williams College. He completed his subspecialty training in Hematology-Oncology and his post-doctoral work at UCLA.