Samuel Waxman, M.D., Director the Samuel Waxman Institute for Aging & Cancer, has dedicated his entire career as an oncologist/hematologist to developing cancer-specific minimally toxic therapies to improve the lives of cancer patients worldwide. In collaboration with scientists in Shanghai, Dr. Waxman helped find a cure for acute promyelocytic leukemia, which once had a 100 percent fatality rate but now has a 95 percent survival rate. He received the Friendship Award from the Chinese government for this work in 2018.
Convinced that ongoing collaboration brings faster cures to patients, Dr. Waxman founded the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF) and the Institute Without Walls to more rapidly bridge the gap between the bench and bedside. Scientists funded by SWCRF have made significant breakthroughs in cancer research, including identifying pathways to deliver drugs and novel therapies to treat cancer. SWCRF is dedicated to finding cures for cancer through reprogramming cancer cells, a type of research in which scientists alter cancer cells so they behave like normal, healthy cells. SWCRF scientists have demonstrated that this approach results in less toxic treatments that can cure cancer. Since its inception in 1976, Foundation has awarded more than $120 million to support the work of more than 200 researchers across the globe.
In 2018, SWCRF launched the International Network for Aging and Cancer Research, a key initiative to link government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, philanthropists, research labs, universities, and other foundations to collaborate on funding research into the complex relationship between aging and cancer. The inaugural partnership with the National Cancer Institute and National Institute on Aging has funded nearly 20 scientists to date. In 2020, SWCRF co-founded the International Center for Aging and Cancer in Hainan, China and the International Aging and Cancer Conference. SWCRF also partnered with Wiley Publishing to produce the peer-reviewed journal Aging AND Cancer. In recent years, SWCRF also formed collaborations with several foundations, such as the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, Israel Cancer Research Fund, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Melanoma Research Alliance, to expand this growing network. In 2025, SWCRF announced its intention to merge with The Mark Foundation and form the Samuel Waxman Instistute for Aging & Cancer.
Dr. Waxman has authored over two hundred and fifty peer-reviewed scientific papers and was among the first scientists to demonstrate differentiation as a cancer therapy. He has also contributed chapters to textbooks on hematology, chemotherapy, and nutrition, as well as authored two books—Differentiation Therapy and The Leukemia Cell. Recently, Dr. Waxman and members of his lab with NIH funding have identified a targeted adjuvant therapy for triple-negative breast cancer based on phenotypic reprogramming.
Dr. Waxman is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Oncological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also an Honorary Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Most recently, Dr. Waxman was bestowed honorary doctorate degrees from Hainan Medical University (2023) and State University of New York Downstate Medical University (2024). Dr. Waxman was an active clinician throughout his career and was inducted into the New York Magazine Hall of Fame in Medicine, Hematology-Oncology. Dr. Waxman held a variety of positions, such as the Zena and Michael Weiner Chair and the Albert and Vera List Chair at Mount Sinai, while also mentoring many post-doctoral fellows