Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Group in Portland has appointed its inaugural board of directors and executive leadership team.
The nine-member board is led by Brian Druker, MD, president of the Knight Cancer Group, according to a Sept. 24 health system news release.
OHSU established the Knight Cancer Group in August 2025 alongside a $2 billion commitment from Phil and Penny Knight to the Knight Cancer Institute. The group governs the institute’s new care delivery model and oversees OHSU’s cancer services. In June, the OHSU board of directors formally approved the group as a self-governing nonprofit with authority over the Knight Cancer Institute’s budgets, leadership and strategy.
Here are the other eight board members:
- Peter Bragdon, president of Columbia Sportswear Co. and chair of the Oregon Community Foundation board
- Mark Ganz, founder and principal of Lion Creek Partners, a healthcare advisory and investment firm
- David Brailer, MD, PhD, founder and chairman of Health Evolution, a national leadership forum, and formerly the country’s first national health information technology coordinator
- Sheryl WuDunn, journalist, author and banker who was recently elected vice chair of Harvard University’s board of overseers
- Susan Hedlund, director of supportive care initiatives for the Sheri and Les Biller Foundation and former director of patient and family services at the Knight Cancer Institute
- Ed Benz, MD, the Richard and Susan Smith Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and former president and CEO of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston
- David Reese, MD, board chair for the CEO Roundtable on Cancer
- Shereef Elnahal, MD, president of OHSU and former under secretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs
The executive leadership team, put together since the $2 billion donation in August 2025, is led by Dr. Druker and includes Joel Helmke, CEO of the Knight Cancer Group; Shivaani Kummar, MD, director of the Knight Cancer Institute and chief scientific and academic officer; Stephen Petersen, CFO; Nilda Bonet, chief human resources officer; Alison Soileau, PhD, chief experience officer; Graciela Gomez Cowger, chief transformation officer; and Anna Rodriguez, MSN, RN, chief nurse executive.
