W. GREGORY SAWYER

CHIEF BIOENGINEERING OFFICER, MOFFITT CANCER CENTER, TAMPA

Moffitt Cancer Center is the first National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Florida. Sawyer came to Moffitt as a patient with a cancer diagnosis — a clinical trial there saved his life. He has served as Moffitt's chief bioengineering officer since 2023; he also leads the institution's bioengineering department. “It was Moffitt researchers and clinicians who inspired me to focus my engineering research on cancer,” he says.

EDUCATION: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (BS, MS, Ph.D.)

NOTABLE TREND: The major shift in cancer research is toward the use of patient-derived avatar models that are based on patient samples of tumors. This is a big step toward more precise and more realistic models of disease. The models reflect real disease biology more accurately than animal testing and help researchers develop better therapies.

NEXT BIG FOCUS: I want to expand collaborations between engineering and clinician-scientists to create stronger bridges between discovery and patient care. We are starting new teams of researchers that include surgeons to develop new types of clinical trials that include novel multifunctional therapeutic materials to dramatically improve clinical outcomes.

IN MY DOWNTIME: I enjoy working with wood and restoring old trucks with my sons.