Paul A. Meyers, MD, is an emeritus member of the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). He was a pediatric oncologist on the MSK Kids team with extensive experience caring for children and young adults with sarcomas.
Many of Dr. Meyers’ patients were teens and young adults transitioning from childhood dependence on their parents to independent living. He and his colleagues helped them maintain their independence during their cancer care, while still making sure that they had the emotional and practical support of their families.
Dr. Meyers was Chief of the Pediatric Sarcoma Service from 1986 to 2023. He also directed clinical research to develop and assess new therapies for sarcomas. For 5 years, he led the Bone Sarcoma Strategy Group for the Children’s Oncology Group. In that role, he directed national clinical trials for osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma.
He also conducted clinical trials for people with newly diagnosed and recurrent osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, undifferentiated sarcoma, and other unusual tumors in children and young adults. Dr. Meyers had much more experience treating these challenging cancers than most physicians. He served for 5 years on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Subcommittee F to review cooperative group trials.
In addition to caring for patients and doing research, he enjoyed teaching. MSK offers one of the most comprehensive training programs in pediatric hematology-oncology in the country. Dr. Meyers directed the pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship program for 34 years.
In recognition of his work, Dr. Meyers received the Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence from MSK in 1995. He authored or co-authored more than 240 peer-reviewed medical publications. He also served as president of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society, a leading academic society devoted to the study of sarcomas, and was a member of the NCI’s Physician Data Query Pediatric Treatment Editorial Board.
Dr. Meyers was the founding medical director for Happiness Is Camping, a summer camp for children with cancer that provides a respite from the rigors of cancer therapy. To see these children blossom and thrive away from the hospital environment was one of Dr. Meyers’ greatest joys.