He earned his medical degree in 1970 at Columbia University, completed his residency at UCSD, and received post-doctoral training at the Salk Institute, the National Institutes of Health and UCSD. He has published nearly 450 scientific papers, is an inventor on more than 60 U.S. and international patents, and has founded four companies. Recently he was inducted into the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Carson is perhaps best known for his landmark work in developing a new agent called 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine, or 2-CdA, for the treatment of hairy cell leukemia. This drug, now marketed as Leustatin, is the treatment of choice for this disease and has resulted in long term, complete remissions in about 75 percent of patients, often after just a single infusion. It is also effective in other lymphoid cancers, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.

As Cancer Center Director his priorities are to develop strong, formalized relationships with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical communities to speed the translation of the university’s basic science discoveries into new and improved options for cancer patients; and to create a molecular-targeted early-diagnostics program that capitalizes on the emerging field of bioinformatics, which uses powerful computers to process large amounts of complicated data. His goal is to establish the Center as a world leader in early cancer detection.