NYU Langone Health Announces Gastrointestinal Cancer and Translational Research Leader Dr. Anirban Maitra as New Director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NYU Langone Health announced the appointment of Anirban Maitra, MD, a pre-eminent physician–scientist whose work has widely influenced the field of pancreatic cancer research, as the new director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Prior to joining NYU Langone, Dr. Maitra served as the inaugural scientific director of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Maitra's work focused on early detection and biomarker development, two key avenues for effective cancer treatments. After serving in a number of leadership roles at MD Anderson, he was named co-director of NYU Langone's Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Center, which marshals the collective expertise of our GI cancer experts to deliver unmatched care for patients with GI cancer or precancerous conditions. Dr. Maitra also previously served as associate director of translational research, where he led efforts to drive discovery from the lab to patient care in the clinic.

"Dr. Maitra is a proven leader in oncology, and his experience guiding integrated, multidisciplinary teams makes him an outstanding choice to direct Perlmutter Cancer Center," said Alec C. Kimmelman, MD, PhD, Dean and CEO of NYU Langone Health. "He brings a strong record of clinical and scientific achievement, a deep commitment to advancing cancer research, and the vision needed to help drive Perlmutter Cancer Center's continued growth and impact on patients and families."

Dr. Maitra's appointment is the result of a national search that began shortly after Dr. Kimmelman was named Dean and CEO in March 2025. Under Dr. Kimmelman's leadership, Perlmutter Cancer Center established its new Center for Molecular Oncology in October 2024, which has already begun to redefine the standard of cancer care by ensuring that every patient receives liquid biopsies, enabling their tumor DNA to be sequenced. Dr. Maitra has closely collaborated with the Center to create personalized treatment plans and will continue to develop this important initiative in his new leadership role.

"I am both humbled and excited to accept this opportunity to lead the Perlmutter Cancer Center," said Dr. Maitra. "In my time so far at NYU Langone, I've had the chance to collaborate with many of our world-class physicians, researchers, nurses, technicians and others that make the care we give patients possible. The integrated nature of this institution gives us so many opportunities to develop our understanding and agility to more rapidly develop new cancer therapies."

The Perlmutter Cancer Center has been designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the highest-ranking awarded by the National Cancer Institute and further validation that it provides state-of-the-art, research-based approaches to preventing, detecting, and treating cancer. This leading cancer center serves the greater New York City area and treats patients at multiple locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, and on Long Island.

About Dr. Maitra
Dr. Maitra earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MD equivalent) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and went on to complete an anatomic pathology residency, and clinical and research fellowships in pediatric pathology and molecular pathology, respectively, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He then completed fellowship training in gastrointestinal pathology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before joining the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at Hopkins as a physician–scientist. Dr. Maitra was a professor of pathology and oncology at Johns Hopkins until 2013, prior to his recruitment to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he served as professor of pathology and translational molecular pathology and as a distinguished university chair until he arrived at NYU Langone in August 2025 to co-direct the NYU Langone GI Cancer Center.

Dr. Maitra has held many prestigious leadership roles and received numerous honors throughout his career, such as the R. Lee Clark Prize for Excellence in Translational Cancer Research, the Ruth Leff Siegel Award for Pancreatic Cancer Research, and the AACR Team Science Award. Dr. Maitra has led or co-led multiple large-scale, multi-institutional NIH and foundation-funded initiatives, including consortia focused on KRAS-targeted therapies and early cancer interception.

A prolific researcher, Dr. Maitra has co-authored more than 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has given talks at national and international conferences, including at the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Gastroenterological Association, and the European Society for Medical Oncology.

About NYU Langone Health
NYU Langone Health is a fully integrated health system that consistently achieves the best patient outcomes through a rigorous focus on quality that has resulted in some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation. Vizient Inc. has ranked NYU Langone No. 1 out of 118 comprehensive academic medical centers across the nation for four years in a row, and U.S. News & World Report recently ranked four of its clinical specialties No. 1 in the nation. NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services with one high standard of care across seven inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 320 outpatient locations in the New York area and Florida. The system also includes two tuition-free medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise.

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SOURCE NYU Langone Health System