Dr. Sunil Sharma’s medical prowess unifies basic scientific discoveries, translational drug development and clinical care to produce advanced treatments for patients
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Feb. 18, 2025 — Sunil Sharma, M.D., MBA, one of the nation’s leading experts in creating anti-cancer drugs, has been named director of HonorHealth Research Institute’s new Center for Translational Science.
Dr. Sharma, who for more than three decades has been at the national forefront of research, drug and clinical trial design, has served at the Research Institute since 2017. He now will hold the Institute’s title as Chief of Translational Research and Drug Discovery.
In his new position, Dr. Sharma will lead a team of scientists, faculty, research technicians, project managers, chemists, lab supervisors and other personnel as they take basic scientific laboratory discoveries and translate them into new therapeutics for patients.
“I can’t think of a better person who is more qualified for this new endeavor — a true renaissance man who has the science, the clinical, the business and the innovation expertise and experience — than Dr. Sharma,” said Mark Slater, Ph.D., Vice President of Research at HonorHealth and CEO of HonorHealth Research Institute.
“He’s a brilliant scientist with a strong academic presence,” added Dr. Slater, “who will lead in the development of grants, education and collaborations.”
As part of the new partnership announced in October between HonorHealth Research Institute and Arizona State University’s new School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering, Dr. Sharma will also hold a faculty appointment as an ASU Research Professor.
“Dr. Sharma has had an illustrious career as a drug discoverer, and drug developer and as a phenomenal and caring physician,” said Michael Gordon, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of HonorHealth Research Institute.
“Dr. Sharma is one of the strongest partners and colleagues that I’ve personally had over the past 20 years,” Dr. Gordon said. “I know him as an outstanding clinician who is focused and dedicated to the care of his patients, and as an outstanding researcher, always challenging himself to look for better options. And where better options don’t exist, challenging himself to figure out something completely new.”
In association with his new position, Dr. Sharma also will hold the Virginia G. Piper Distinguished Chair in Innovative Cancer Research, a position previously held by Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., one of the world’s leading experts in pancreatic cancer. Dr. Von Hoff had mentored Dr. Sharma since his post-decorate fellowship under Dr. Von Hoff at the University of Texas San Antonio. Created in 2019, the Distinguished Chair carries an endowment to help fund Dr. Sharma’s innovative cancer research and clinical trials at HonorHealth Research Institute.
“I’m happy to take on this role as part of my career-long desire to help patients and advance medicine,” Dr. Sharma said of his new position as director of the Center for Translational Science. “HonorHealth has been so great to me. I want to contribute not only to the success of HonorHealth, but I also want to convey my excitement about the future of HonorHealth Research Institute.”
Dr. Sharma’s multiple positions
In 2017, Dr. Sharma also joined the Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) as Deputy Director of Clinical Sciences, Professor, and Head of Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division. In 2019, he was named TGen’s Physician-In-Chief, also succeeding Dr. Von Hoff.
In recent years, Dr. Sharma broadened his research and clinical portfolio beyond his specialty of gastrointestinal cancers (colon, pancreatic) to include drug development — immunotherapeutic treatments in particular — for COVID-19, Alzheimer’s disease, memory performance, and other cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer.
Dr. Sharma also is a Professor of Medical Oncology at City of Hope, a world-renowned comprehensive cancer center based in greater Los Angeles.
Dr. Sharma’s extensive background
Prior to HonorHealth, Dr. Sharma served as Deputy Director of Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) in Salt Lake City, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. At Huntsman, he co-led the Experimental Therapeutics Program, where he developed new treatments, including image-guided and targeted drug delivery systems.
He also worked as a physician in the Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. And he built a phase I clinical trial program at the Nevada Cancer Institute in Las Vegas.
In addition to his clinical pursuits, Dr. Sharma has worked with a number of pharmaceutical companies, including: Swiss-based Novartis, where he helped develop ceritinib, one of the most widely used lung cancer treatments; Merck & Co.’s pembrolizumab; and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s nivolumab, the latter two immunotherapy drugs, both of which help the body’s own immune system attack cancer cells. He also has started multiple biotechnology companies, including Iterion Therapeutics, Stingray Therapeutics and Black Canyon Bio. These companies are developing novel cancer drugs, cancer vaccines and cell therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Dr. Sharma, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, earned his medical degree at the University of Delhi in New Delhi, India, and his MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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About the HonorHealth Research Institute
HonorHealth Research Institute is an international destination that is at the forefront of providing patients with a better quality of life through its clinical trials and innovative treatment options. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the institute’s team of physicians and researchers collaborate with experts from across the nation to offer life-changing therapies, drugs and devices. At HonorHealth Research Institute, patients have access to tomorrow’s health innovations, today. Learn more at: HonorHealth.com/research.
Media Contacts:
Steve Yozwiak
Senior Research Science Writer
HonorHealth Research Institute
602-620-4749
syozwiak@honorhealth.com