Change in Leadership at the Frederick National Laboratory

RESTON, Va., Oct. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a FORTUNE 500® science and technology company, announced today that Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D. was appointed President of subsidiary Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. (Leidos Biomed) and Laboratory Director of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR). Dmitrovsky will succeed current President David Heimbrook, Ph.D., who is fulfilling his plans to retire at this time.

FNLCR is the only Federally Funded Research and Development Center devoted entirely to biomedical research, and is operated in the public interest by Leidos Biomed on behalf of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In his role, Dmitrovsky will continue the legacy of leading a team of 2,200 scientists, health professionals, and supporting staff members to advance research at the forefront of basic, translational, and clinical science with a focus on cancer, AIDS, and infectious disease.

Dmitrovsky is the former provost and executive vice president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He most recently served as the Olga Keith and Harry Carothers Wiess Distinguished University Chair and American Cancer Society Professor at The University of TexasMD Anderson Cancer Center. Prior, Dmitrovsky served as Provost and Executive Vice President at MD Anderson, a top-ranked cancer center and home to undergraduate and graduate programs and more than 4,000 clinical trials. Dmitrovsky also served as Principal Investigator of the National Institutes of Health-funded Cancer Center Core Grant, MD Anderson's largest federal grant. 

At MD Anderson, Dmitrovsky fostered collaborations with 33 sister institutions in 23 countries, including the launching of a pain medicine initiative for cancer patients in Ethiopia, a country of 90 million with few pain specialists. His team created a Provost Protégé Program for faculty members of diverse backgrounds, broadened the reach of the Women Faculty Office to add Minority Faculty Inclusion to its mission, and implemented innovative programs to support the training and scholarship of faculty, research nurses, and students. 

"Ethan brings an incredible amount of experience and expertise in leading research institutions," said Leidos Health Group President Jon Scholl. "Leidos is committed to making the world healthier through research in biomedical sciences, and Ethan's leadership will continue our excellence in fostering innovation."  

Dmitrovsky graduated from Harvard University and Cornell University Medical College. He was an internal medicine resident at New York Hospital-Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and oncology fellow at NCI.  

Heimbrook served as President of Leidos Biomedical Research and Laboratory Director of FNLCR for the past six years. Working in close partnership with NCI colleagues, Heimbrook's leadership was instrumental in establishing the Frederick National Lab as a formal U.S. national laboratory and in expanding the research portfolio by implementing dozens of new partnerships with academia, the private sector, and other national laboratories, taking on projects of national importance such as the RAS Initiative, and opening new, shared national resources for the biomedical research community, including the recently opened National Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility. Heimbrook plans to serve as a consultant to Leidos and continue his service on the Leidos Biomed Board of Directors.

"Leading Frederick National Lab for the last six and a half years has been the capstone of my career – I feel like everything I did before was just to prepare me for doing this job," said Heimbrook. "I am extraordinarily proud of all the team has achieved during my tenure, and I have confidence Ethan will bring the leadership and knowledge needed to propel research forward."

Image: David Heimbrook, left, Ethan Dmitrovsky, right