The CEO Roundtable on Cancer (CEORT) announced today the appointment of Sean Khozin, MD, MPH, as its next chief executive officer.

A distinguished leader with senior executive experience in government and the private sector, including pivotal roles at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Khozin takes the helm of CEORT and its independent initiative, Project Data Sphere® (PDS), as the organization navigates a new chapter in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to advance cancer research and care.

He succeeds William Louv, PhD, who retired as chief executive officer of the Roundtable at the end of 2023.

Dr. Khozin has a long history with CEORT, including serving on the organization’s Life Sciences Council for the past five years. He was also instrumental during his tenure at the FDA in the launch of CEORT’s autoRECIST initiative, an innovative research program that led to the successful development of AI models for the assessment of tumor dynamics based on medical imaging.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sean Khozin as our new CEO. His exceptional track record in AI and oncology research along with his visionary leadership will undoubtedly propel CEORT and PDS to new heights,” said David Reese, MD, chairman of the board of CEORT/PDS and executive vice president/chief technology officer at Amgen. “Dr. Khozin’s appointment is a testament to our continued commitment to driving innovation in cancer research and care, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes and advancing humanity’s fight against cancer.”

“I am deeply honored to lead the Roundtable under the guidance of its esteemed board of directors at this pivotal time,” Dr. Khozin said. “We stand on the cusp of a new era in cancer research, where AI has the potential to dramatically improve how we diagnose, treat and understand this complex disease. My vision is to catalyze our collective efforts, harnessing the full power of AI to unlock new insights and ensure that discoveries in cancer research translate into tangible benefits for patients worldwide.”

Under Dr. Khozin’s stewardship, CEORT will expand on the extensive research achievements of PDS, which include numerous publications in leading peer-reviewed journals, the continued growth of its data platform and the successful development of autoRECIST. The new chapter will solidify CEORT’s role as a leading sandbox for innovative research, integrating the latest advances in AI and machine learning to propel transformative cancer research efforts.

“Dr. Khozin’s appointment marks a significant milestone for the CEORT and the broader cancer research community,” said CEORT board member Ned Sharpless, MD, former director of the National Cancer Institute. “His extensive experience and successful track record in leveraging AI for biomedical applications are exactly what the Roundtable needs to lead the charge in transforming the field through collaborative research and advanced analytics. His appointment underscores the organization’s unyielding commitment to combating cancer, capitalizing on the emerging power of AI to deliver new hope to patients.”

“When we began PDS in 2015, we could see that the data age was upon us, and now an exciting new chapter is beginning,” said Chris Viehbacher, CEO of Biogen and member of the CEORT board of directors.

Dr. Khozin is the former chief executive officer of the American Society for Clinical Oncology’s CancerLinQ, He was previously the global head of Data Strategy and Data Science Innovation at Johnson & Johnson, a founding member of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, and executive director of Information Exchange and Data Transformation (INFORMED), the FDA’s first data science and technology incubator that played a pivotal role in shaping the agency’s position on real-world evidence and catalyzing the use of novel data science solutions in drug discovery and clinical development.

Prior to his tenure with the federal government, Dr. Khozin was the cofounder of Hello Health, a pioneering company developing telemedicine, point-of-care data visualization and advanced analytical systems as an integrated approach to optimizing drug discovery, patient care and clinical research. The company’s core technology offerings were first operationalized in a multidisciplinary network of clinics he had founded called SKMD.

Dr. Khozin earned his medical and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Maryland. He also holds a master’s of public health degree from George Washington University and is a research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.