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John M. Ashton, PhD, MBA, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Genetics, has been promoted from assistant director to associate director of Shared Resources at Wilmot Cancer Institute. The new position is effective immediately. 

John Ashton, PhD, MBA

Ashton joins six other associate directors on Wilmot’s executive leadership team, which is focused on basic and translational research; clinical research; career development and mentoring; population science; diversity, equity, and inclusion; community outreach and engagement; and administration and finance. The associate director of Shared Resources is a new position on the team, which works closely with Wilmot’s director, Jonathan Friedberg, MD, MMSc, and Deputy Director Hucky Land, PhD, to provide input on all policy decisions and issues related to community outreach, research, faculty retention and recruitment, diversity efforts, and more.

Ashton will serve as the key voice for Wilmot’s Shared Resources, a group of teams that provide state-of-the-art technologies, expertise, and scientific consultations to investigators at Wilmot. The six Shared Resources are: Biobank; Biostatistics and Bioinformatics; Cytometry; Genomics; Human Biophysiology; and Imaging and Radiation. A seventh shared resource, Metabolomics, is in development.

Ashton came to the University of Rochester in 2005 as a graduate student in Biomedical Genetics. In 2012, he joined the faculty as instructor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and as director of the Genomics Research Center, a role he still holds today. Throughout his 10-plus years at the University, he has held a variety of research-focused positions, including directing the High Throughput Screening Facility and the Functional Genomics Center at 麻豆视频all while actively collaborating on cancer research.

He began as an assistant director of Shared Resources at Wilmot in 2018. In this position, he worked with the core facilities directors and Wilmot leadership to develop strategic plans for providing innovative and high-value services to investigators and to improve usage tracking for all Wilmot Shared Resources.

Ashton helped to launch the Biobank Shared Resource last year and led efforts around an Empire State Development grant that supports the new Biobank. His achievements also include expanding the shared resources management team by hiring Tracie McGinnity, PhD, in January 2023, as a staff scientist to support Shared Resource management.

Wilmot Cancer Institute Biobank Shared Resource

“To see the progress that John has made through his time leading the Shared Resources team has been incredible,” Land said. “The research happening throughout Wilmot is not possible without the Shared Resources teams and their cutting-edge capabilities. As Wilmot continues to strengthen its research in coming years, having Shared Resources represented at the highest level of leadership is vital to our mission.”

A major part of Ashton’s work over the last few years involved drafting the Shared Resource section of the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), the grant through which Wilmot could become designated by the .

“For the last 10 or more years, the CCSG has been a top priority at University of Rochester, and John has done an amazing job organizing and communicating the work his team does,” Friedberg said. “He has already had a remarkable impact on the science happening at Wilmot and is well-deserving of this promotion. It will be important to have Shared Resources representation as part of our executive committee moving forward, helping strategically steer Wilmot into a future where cancer research technology is quickly advancing.”

Ashton is appreciative of his team and looks toward a strong future for Wilmot’s Shared Resources.

“In an era where technology can seemingly change almost by the minute, our Shared Resources team is at the center, if not leading edge, of these changes. Wilmot has some of the most advanced cancer research technology in the country and as technology becomes more complex, working together becomes even more important,” Ashton says. “Wilmot recognizes the value and the power of our Shared Resources, and I am excited to represent the team and strengthen research capabilities in the years to come.”