The Directors: New directors Herbst and Gius chart a future built on AI, collaboration, and rural access

New pressures notwithstanding, being a cancer center director is still a dream job, two of the nation’s newest cancer center directors say.

In their first weeks in the top jobs at their institutions, Dartmouth’s Roy Herbst and the University of Cincinnati’s David Gius told us how the director’s job comes with an opportunity to imbue the center’s programs with a new energy and explore new directions in science.

Herbst and Gius appeared together on The Directors, a monthly podcast series which focuses on the problems that keep directors of cancer centers up at night. 

Both Herbst and Gius acknowledge the mounting funding pressure due to tighter federal research funding and rising costs of doing research. They argue that the next generation of advances will come from combining academic science and industry partnerships to bring cutting-edge treatments to more people—including those in rural and underserved communities. 

“I understand my responsibility. I'm busier than I've ever been before, but this is what I've been looking for my entire career. It's a capstone for me, and I'm really excited to be here,” said Herbst, who at the recording of this podcast was in his third week as director of Dartmouth Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Gius was in his fourth week as director of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center at the recording of this podcast.

“Getting this job is something I've always aspired to. I agree, it's something to cap your career. There's a lot of responsibility, and it's my fourth week, so there's a lot to do,” Gius said.

A transcript is available at: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/20260807_1/