Philadelphia, PA — September 4, 2025 — Leads & Copy — The Wistar Institute has appointed Katherine Aird, Ph.D., as co-leader and professor in the Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center. Aird’s research focuses on cancer metabolism and cell cycle disruption, particularly how cancer cells communicate through metabolites and how this influences cell proliferation. She studies aggressive cancers like melanoma and ovarian cancer to understand how metabolism drives cancer progression and resistance, and how to therapeutically target these changes.
According to Dario Altieri, M.D., president and CEO of The Wistar Institute, Aird’s expertise in tumor metabolism will enhance the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center. Aird previously trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Wistar and will now lead a new initiative around tumor metabolism. Her leadership is expected to strengthen Wistar’s multidisciplinary approach to cancer research.
Aird noted the existing expertise in cancer metabolism at Wistar, with scientists examining it from various angles, including the tumor microenvironment, the microbiome, and the intersection of immunology and metabolism. She emphasized the exciting opportunity to contribute to cancer metabolism research at Wistar.
Dr. Aird holds a B.A. in biology from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. from Duke University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Center and The Wistar Institute, later starting her independent lab at Penn State College of Medicine. Before rejoining The Wistar Institute, she was an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
The Wistar Institute, founded in 1972, is an independent nonprofit institution focused on biomedical research and training and is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center.
Contact: Darien Sutton, The Wistar Institute, 215-870-2048, dsutton@wistar.org
Source: The Wistar Institute
Source: The Wistar Institute
