Leukemia researcher Dr. Charles G. Mullighan, senior deputy director of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.

Mullighan was selected to join the Royal Society for his trailblazing contributions to genomic research, which have advanced the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of acute leukemia, notably childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). His studies have redefined the disease by identifying novel subtypes, uncovering critical genomic drivers, and advancing precision medicine approaches.

Founded in 1660, the Royal Society is an independent scientific academy of the U.K. and the British Commonwealth of nations (Mullighan holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Australia). Its fellows have included many of the world’s most eminent scientists and technologists, representing a range of personalities, from Sir Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin to Dorothy Hodgkin and St. Jude scientists Robert Webster and Madan Babu. Mullighan’s fellow U.S.-based 2025 members include researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Google DeepMind, Johns Hopkins University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Princeton University, Harvard University, Stanford University and the National Institutes of Health.