Ulrich Steidl, MD, PhD, Named Director of Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center

International leader in blood cancer and stem cell research, Ulrich Steidl, MD, PhD, has been named director of the Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) and vice president of cancer medicine at Montefiore Einstein. He has acted as interim director of MECCC, which is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center, since late 2025.

“I am deeply honored to accept the leadership of MECCC,” said Steidl. “We have a tremendous team composed of exceptional clinicians, researchers, and administrators who are deeply dedicated to our patients, our community, and cutting-edge cancer care and innovative science. I look forward to working together as we advance our mission to reduce the burden of cancer in the Bronx and beyond, and drive innovation that improves the lives and well-being of people in our borough and around the world.”

Steidl has held a series of leadership positions within MECCC, having previously served as program leader, associate director for basic science, and deputy director. At Montefiore Einstein, he also held key roles as the associate chair for translational research in the department of oncology and interim director for the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine. Steidl will continue to serve as chair of the department of cell biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Since joining Montefiore Einstein in 2008, Steidl has established himself as an innovative and deeply committed scientist, collaborator, and mentor. His basic and translational research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, non-profit foundations, and philanthropy, focuses on defining the characteristics of pre-leukemic stem cells, their heterogeneity, and understanding their progression to leukemic stem cells, and developing drugs to interrupt this process. He has made seminal discoveries and contributions to the field. He was among the first researchers to demonstrate the existence of pre-cancerous stem cells, and how myelodysplastic syndrome, a common precursor of acute myeloid leukemia, arises and progresses from defective blood-forming stem cells. Lessons learned from Steidl’s work in blood cancers have been adopted in many other tumor types and have jump-started the concept of ‘precision prevention’ of cancers and ‘interception’ of their progression and relapse. His work has directly contributed to the advancement of several experimental drugs now in clinical trials. In addition, he is an inventor on numerous patent filings and a co-founder of successful biotech startups.

Widely recognized for contributions to research and mentorship, Steidl has earned numerous awards. At Einstein, he received the Saul R. Korey Award in Translational Science and Medicine in 2020 and the Marshall S. Horwitz Award for Research Excellence in 2025. He is a four-time recipient of Einstein’s Julius Marmur Mentorship Award for Outstanding Mentoring in Graduate Research. Many of his graduate and postdoctoral trainees have gone on to hold faculty and leadership positions at prominent institutions worldwide.

Steidl’s additional honors include the Scholar Achievement Award from Blood Cancer United (formerly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) in 2019, the Outstanding Investigator Award from the NCI in 2021, and most recently, the 2025 McCulloch & Till Award from the International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH) and the 2025 All-Star Award from the V Foundation for Cancer Research. He is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation and has served as both vice president and president of the ISEH.