IU names inaugural leader for lung cancer research center
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An Indiana University professor who founded a biotechnology company and is considered a leading researcher in his field has been named the inaugural executive director of the Tom and Julie Wood Center for Lung Cancer Research.
John Turchi, who joined the IU faculty in 2005, will retain the title of Tom and Julie Wood Family Foundation professor of lung cancer research and professor of medicine at the university’s medical school.
“I am deeply honored to be named the executive director of the Tom and Julie Wood Center for Lung Cancer Research. I am both humbled and excited with this opportunity to lead such a dedicated team,” Turchi said in a university news release. “Together with our exceptional physicians and researchers, I am confident that we will make significant strides in advancing lung cancer research and improving patient outcomes.”
The Wood Center was established in March 2024 with a $20 million gift from Julie Wood. The gift honors her husband, Tom Wood, an Indianapolis auto executive who died of lung cancer in 2010. The Wood family has given more than $28 million to IU lung cancer research.
Part of the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Wood Center is considered by the university to be a key component of its expansion of research into novel therapies and personalized care for lung cancer patients.
In 2009, Turchi founded Indianapolis biotechnology company NERx Biosciences to develop targeted therapeutics for treating cancer, the university said.
“Dr. Turchi has been an exceptional leader in lung cancer research and innovation at IU for many years, making him the ideal inaugural director for the Wood Center,” Kelvin Lee, director of the cancer center and associate dean for cancer research, said in the release. “With Dr. Turchi’s leadership, the cancer center is primed to make significant advances in lung cancer discoveries.”
Earlier this month, IU unveiled its first mobile lung screening unit, a 40-foot truck that will travel to rural parts of the state to help improve lung screening rates in underserved areas.