MUSC Hollings Cancer Center Appoints Pancreatic Cancer Surgeon Scientist William Hawkins, MD, As Deputy Director

William Hawkins, MD, will join MUSC Hollings Cancer Center on Jan. 1, 2024, in the newly created role of deputy director, where he will focus on strengthening translational research, increasing clinical trials across South Carolina and assisting Craig Lockhart, MD, chief of the Oncology Integrated Center of Clinical Excellence, with making clinical operations more efficient. Hollings faculty grew from 111 doctors and researchers in 2018 to 130 in 2023 and more than doubled its number of publications during that time.

Hollings is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in South Carolina and one of only 72 in the nation. In 2028, Hollings will apply for comprehensive status, the highest designation, indicative of having met rigorous requirements regarding the depth and breadth of transdisciplinary research that connects basic, clinical and population science and cancer education and prevention.

“Bill Hawkins is the right man at the right time for Hollings as we set out to attain comprehensive cancer center status, which would be a confirmation of the quality of work happening here,” said Hollings director Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD. “Bill is an accomplished surgeon, a dedicated researcher, he gets things done and is a leader with a track record of connecting clinicians and researchers across disciplines.”

With a longstanding commitment to leadership, patient care, education and research, Hawkins has spent almost 20 years at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and its Siteman Cancer Center, where he obtained and directed a prestigious Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant to conduct multiple projects investigating pancreatic cancer. While there, he served as the chief of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery and the Neidorff Family and Robert C. Packman Professor of Surgery.

“Hollings is poised to grow exponentially, so it’s a particularly exciting time to be part of this institution,” said Hawkins. “I’m looking forward to building an even more robust translational research program and helping doctors and researchers to connect the dots between the lab and the clinic while also continuing to provide patient care and conduct research in my own lab on pancreatic cancer.”

Hawkins completed fellowships in surgical oncology and research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; served as chief during his surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and received both his medical and bachelor’s degrees at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.