Andrew Godwin, PhD

Andrew K. Godwin, PhD, joined The University of Kansas Cancer Center in October 2010. A leading scientist in the field of personalized medicine and drug development, he serves as Associate Director of Translational Research.

Dr. Godwin came to KU from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa., where he was the director of the Clinical Molecular Genetics Laboratory, the co-leader of the Women's Cancer Program, and the initiator and director of one of the country's top biospecimen repositories. His specialty is developing tests to determine whether a drug will work on a particular patient or tumor.

"The wave of the future is drug discovery. With Andy Godwin here, we have one of the best people in the world to do that," says Roy A. Jeasen, MD, director of The University of Kansas Cancer Center. Dr. Jensen points out that it’s now common practice for people who are diagnosed with colon cancer to take a test to determine whether a particular gene (known as the K-RAS gene) will respond to a specific drug. Dr. Godwin's lab helped establish that test, Jensen says.

Dr. Godwin, who earned his Bachelor of Science degree in cellular biology from the University of Kansas before going on to earn a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania, is happy to be back in the area after 26 years on the East Coast.

"I am excited about the opportunities at the cancer center and am looking forward to working with its leaders to achieve our goal of establishing a comprehensive cancer center in the middle part of America," he says. "I felt it was time to give back to my home state and help provide a place for cancer patients in the area to come for the latest therapies so they can remain near family and friends."

The University of Kansas Cancer Center leaders are especially proud of their Kansas recruit. "He grew up in Lawrence, graduated from KU, then spent twenty-some years at Fox Chase, which is one of the premier cancer centers in the world," Dr. Jensen says. "He's a Kansas native who made good, and now he's home."

Godwin is also a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and director of molecular oncology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He is a KBA Eminent Scholar, and holds the Chancellors Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Sciences endowed professorship.

• Professor and Director of Molecular Oncology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

• Associate Director for Translational Research, University of Kansas Cancer Center

• Kansas Bioscience Authority Eminent Scholar

• Director, Biospecimen Shared Resource (KU Cancer Center)

• Biorepository Coordinator for the HICTR Translational Technologies Resource Center