Edward Kaftan, PhD, has been appointed Associate Cancer Center Director for Research Affairs at Yale Cancer Center. Kaftan will transition to his new position on January 1, 2022, following the retirement of Robert Garofalo, PhD. Kaftan has guided the translational science efforts for Yale Cancer Center for nearly a decade, emphasizing an inclusive culture and fostering research engagement and career advancement for the Yale Cancer Center community. His proven leadership will be an asset as he begins to lead the Research Affairs team and Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) efforts.
Kaftan joined Yale School of Medicine in 2012 as an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Pharmacology, and in 2014 joined the Section of Medical Oncology. For the last seven years, he has worked closely with Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, to lead Yale Cancer Center’s Translational Research Office; earlier this year, Kaftan was named Assistant Cancer Center Director for Translational Science. Prior to joining Yale, he worked in research at Wyeth Research, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Kaftan is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned his PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut.
Garofalo will retire at the end of 2021 after serving as Associate Director for Research Affairs for Yale Cancer Center since 2015. He and his team expertly led Yale Cancer Center through the CCSG renewal in 2018 and have helped to support the exponential growth of Yale Cancer Center’s research enterprise.