Dr. Yusuf A. Hannun is a world-renowned molecular biologist and cancer researcher who currently serves as Director of the Stony Brook Cancer Center and Vice Dean for Cancer Medicine at Stony Brook University. He holds the prestigious Joel Strum Kenny Professorship in Cancer Research while maintaining appointments in the Renaissance School of Medicine and Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Dr. Hannun received his medical degree with distinction from the American University of Beirut Medical Center before completing his fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at Duke University Medical Center, where he also pursued advanced training in biochemistry. His distinguished career includes serving as Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical University of South Carolina from 1998 to 2012, where he was instrumental in achieving National Cancer Institute designation for the Hollings Cancer Center.
Dr. Hannun has pioneered groundbreaking research in the field of bioactive sphingolipids, authoring over 500 academic publications that have fundamentally reshaped our understanding of lipid signaling in cellular regulation and stress responses. His laboratory's discoveries regarding the critical roles of sphingolipids such as ceramide and sphingosine have revealed novel mechanisms underlying cancer pathogenesis, neurological disorders, inflammation, and metabolic diseases. Dr. Hannun's work has demonstrated how sphingolipid metabolism regulates cellular adaptation to diverse stressors, providing new therapeutic targets for multiple disease conditions. His research program, currently supported by five National Institutes of Health grants totaling $1.7 million plus a 15-year NCI program project grant, continues to unravel the complex networks of lipid signaling with potential applications in developing highly targeted therapies.
As a transformative leader in cancer research, Dr. Hannun co-directs the Kavita and Lalit Bahl Center for Metabolomics and Imaging, driving innovation in the study of lipids, metabolism, and imaging in cancer biology and therapeutics. Under his leadership, Stony Brook's cancer research and care infrastructure has expanded significantly, including the establishment of a new bioinformatics department and the opening of the Medical and Research Translation facility in 2019 to accelerate the translation of basic research into clinical applications. Dr. Hannun has received numerous prestigious honors including election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the ASBMB Avanti Award for excellence in research, and a joint Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Conference on Bioactive Lipids. His ongoing work continues to bridge fundamental discoveries in lipid biology with practical therapeutic applications, positioning him at the forefront of developing novel approaches to combat cancer and other major diseases through precision targeting of lipid signaling networks.
