Wells Messersmith, MD, has been named director of the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center, effective Oct. 1.
A member of the CU Anschutz School of Medicine faculty since 2007, Messersmith currently serves as head of the Department of Medicine’s Division of Medical Oncology. He is the cancer center’s associate director for clinical services and chief medical officer of oncology services at UCHealth, and he was recently named the inaugural holder of the Emily Coe Atherton Endowed Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research at CU Anschutz.
Messersmith was selected following a national search.
“When I came to CU Anschutz, I did so to work on behalf of people who are deeply committed to combining scientific rigor with compassion and discovery with patient care. Dr. Messersmith is the epitome of that belief,” says John Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA, CU Anschutz vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “His work reflects the very best of what we strive to do at CU Anschutz: advance science, care for patients with empathy and purpose, and lead in ways that bring others along.”
Sampson praises Messersmith’s work in personalized therapies and drug discovery for gastrointestinal cancers. “His approach — matching the right treatment to the right patient — reflects where the future of cancer care must go,” Sampson adds.
Messersmith’s appointment is also welcomed by the cancer center’s clinical partners at UCHealth.
"We are excited that Dr. Messersmith, UCHealth’s CMO of oncology services, will now lead the CU Anschutz Cancer Center, helping its expert investigators and specialists continue their fight against cancer by expanding the reach of advanced treatments,” says Elizabeth B. Concordia, UCHealth president and CEO. “UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and our locations in northern and southern Colorado already offer many clinical trials that are sponsored by CU faculty, and this is directly improving the lives of our patients. This partnership will continue to grow with Dr. Messersmith’s leadership."
Messersmith becomes the fourth director of the cancer center in its 41-year history, following founding director Paul Bunn, Jr., MD; Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD; and Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, who stepped down in December 2025.
Messersmith earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1998, where he participated in immunology basic research as a medical student, followed by an internship and internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
He was elected a fellow of the American College of Physicians in 2008 and a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in 2019. He is national director of the Academic GI Cancer Consortium (AGICC), representing top investigators at the nation’s most prestigious institutions in the field. He has published over 230 peer-reviewed research and review articles in the field of drug development, immunotherapy, and gastrointestinal cancers, with an emphasis on biomarkers and personalized medicine.
“As a physician, I’ve seen the profound toll cancer takes on patients and their families,” Messersmith says. “As a researcher, I’ve also witnessed the extraordinary power of scientific discovery and clinical research to produce new treatments, extend lives, and deliver cures. Our cancer center has played a major role in the fight against cancer for more than 40 years, and we are poised to have even greater success in the future. Our impact will be broad and transformative.”
He will step aside as division head of Medical Oncology.
Sampson thanks James DeGregori, PhD, professor in the CU Anschutz Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, who has served as interim cancer center director following Schulick’s departure.
In addition, Sampson expresses gratitude to the search committee, co-led by Cathy Bradley, PhD, professor and dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and deputy director of the cancer center; and Vineet Chopra, MBBS, MD, MSc, executive vice dean for clinical affairs, quality, and research operations, and professor and chair of the CU Anschutz Department of Medicine.
