Charis Eng, MD PhD

Charis Eng, MD, PhD

January 17, 1962 – August 13, 2024 

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened."

We remember and celebrate the life of Dr. Charis Eng, who died on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 at the age of 62. She was the dear daughter of Dr. Soo Peck Eng and Mrs. Siok Mui Eng née Lee from the Republic of Singapore.

Dr. Eng was a pioneer in genetic and genomic medicine, and her legacy will remain not only in the programs she founded but with the generations of trainees she inspired. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic in 2005, Dr. Eng was the inaugural founder and director of the Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program. During her time at the Cleveland Clinic, she founded the Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare and the PTEN Multidisciplinary Clinic: Center of Excellence. At the Cleveland Clinic, she was recently named Global Director of Genomic Research Strategies in the Chief Research and Academic Office and had been Chair of the Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare, and Sondra J. and Stephen R. Hardis Endowed Chair in Cancer Genomic Medicine.

Born and raised in Singapore and Bristol, UK, Dr. Eng dedicated her life to medicine and biomedical sciences for the benefit of humankind. Since the age of 4, Dr. Eng knew she wanted to be a physician, inspired by her uncle, Professor YK Lee (Chair of Medicine in Singapore and at that time, the Prime Minister’s physician). Then in fourth grade in Singapore, she learned for the first time about scientific discoveries, and that was when she set her mind to be a physician and a scientist. However, at that time, there were no joint MD-PhD programs in Singapore. Serendipity sent her father to the University of Chicago for his PhD studies; and as an only child, Dr. Eng followed her parents to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools on a scholarship. Dr. Eng remembered fondly the most inspiring biology teacher, Murray Hozinsky, who had a passion for genetics and who taught cancer education as outreach in his spare time. It was during those formative years that Dr. Eng planted the seeds which sparked her own quest to put genetics and cancer together, well before it was fashionable to do so.

After three blissful years at Lab School, her father completed his PhD and had to go back home to Singapore. But Dr. Eng adamantly wanted to stay in Chicago, which was unusual because she loved her parents and always wanted to stay close to them. Because she was a minor, the principal of Lab Schools at that time indicated that she could not stay without her parents and go to school because she was a minor. After some thought, the principal suggested she matriculates in the College of the University of Chicago as a resolution to this dilemma. As such, at the young age of 16, Dr. Eng entered the University of Chicago.

Dr. Eng’s trajectory thereafter was meticulously chosen to train herself rigorously for clinical cancer genetics and the practice of cancer genomic medicine. At the University of Chicago, Dr. Eng conducted undergraduate research in the laboratory of Dr. Ed Garber, who remained a lifelong mentor, colleague and friend. Dr. Eng was the admitted as an Early Decision Program student and completed her MD and PhD at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Hospital and received training in medical oncology at Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as well as in laboratory-based human cancer genetics at the University of Cambridge and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in the UK.

Throughout her independent career, Dr. Eng’s pioneering contributions and leadership have been critical to the rapid advancement of the interface between basic genetics and genomics research and clinical practice. Extending her key description of RET genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2), she demonstrated that a remarkable 30% of apparently sporadic pheochromocytomas carry germline mutations in one of 4 genes, including RET. Eng's laboratory was also first to identify germline mutations in PTEN as the cause of Cowden syndrome, a paradigmatic and under-diagnosed inherited cancer syndrome, and other seemingly unrelated disorders, such as autism. This body of work established her as thought leader of molecular-based diagnosis in the management and treatment of these disorders. Her fundamental contributions to cancer genetics have laid the groundwork for the era of genomic medicine and establishing key paradigms for bringing clinical context to genomic content. Based on her own research and because of leading several international and national consortia, she was able to synthesize these data and observations and extend them to several national practice guidelines.

Dr. Eng’s work at the bench and the bedside garnered international acclaim for her discoveries in personalized genetics and genomics to improve patient outcomes and quality of life. After she made a breakthrough discovery connecting the PTEN gene to an overgrowth disorder called Cowden Syndrome, Dr. Eng challenged the “one-gene-one-disease" paradigm by connecting inherited PTEN mutations to many seemingly disconnected conditions – including multiple overgrowth disorders, several cancer types and autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Eng’s passion was also to rigorously train and mentor the next generation of physician-scientists, PhD clinical researchers and healthcare leaders. Previously only offered outside the USA, Dr. Eng founded a unique fellowship training program in cancer genomic medicine. This program specifically trains fellows to be the experts in the academic practice and clinical research of all heritable cancer syndromes, which are notoriously difficult to diagnose and manage.

Dr. Eng worked hard to improve the lives of patients born with PTEN mutations in the clinic and the lab. The PTEN Multidisciplinary Clinic, a PHTS Clinical Center of Excellence, attracts patients from all over the world for specialized care and treatment. Her clinical and research discoveries were made based on observations of these patients, with whom she worked intimately. Dr. Eng’s research program set the standard for implementing cancer genetic research that can be translated into the clinic.

Like her mentor Dr. Garber, Dr. Eng lived by the motto, “Serendipity strikes those who work hard.” Dr. Eng’s own hard work earned her many awards and appointments. She held 17 major administrative and leadership positions over her career and received over 100 research and clinical awards and appointments. She received the prestigious Medal of Honor from the American Cancer Society in 2018. Clinically, she was named in the top 1% of America’s Most Honored Doctors in 2020 and had received similar recognitions almost every year dating back to 2007. In May of 2024, she won Cleveland Clinic’s highest award for innovation, the Sones Award, recognizing her indelible mark on science and the organization, as well as her record as a prolific inventor. Importantly, for her dedication to her trainees, particularly women physician-investigators, Dr. Eng received multiple mentorship awards, including the Doris Duke Distinguished Scientist and American Cancer Society Professorship, as well as the American Medical Association’s Women’s Physicians Mentorship Recognition and the American Medical Women’s Association’s Exceptional Mentor award.

Dr. Eng’s work and career (which she never considered as a job) gave her a deep sense of purpose and she continued to work relentlessly till the very end. Aside from her genius, Dr. Eng (Charis to those who knew her closely and loved her) carried within her an inner child that brightened every room she entered. Dr. Eng will be mourned by many, including her family, friends, patients, colleagues and mentees. As she was inspired by her mentors, Dr. Eng has inspired countless generations of scientists, clinicians and patients alike. Her legacy, teachings and curious spirit will live through them and will be passed on for many generations to come.

Three words to describe herself: Wishbone (vision). Backbone (steadfastness and integrity). Funny

Bone (sense of humor). (with apologies to Reba McEntyre)

Qualities she admired and lived by: Integrity, purpose, discipline, perseverance, hard work, meritocracy, competence, security and backbone, simplicity, privacy.

Greatest accomplishment she was proud of: Creating a single platform of genomic medicine translational research, the most comprehensive practice of genetics in the country and education under one roof. This type of unique infrastructure allowed highly engaged genetic physicians and self-empowered genetic counselors to deliver value-added gene-enabled care to the patients of many clinical institutes at the Cleveland Clinic and the region.

Favorite hero/heroine in world history: Marie Curie.

Her favorite motto: The motto of her Primary School is “To Master, To Grow, To Serve.” Her motto is a corollary of this that reflects mastery of expertise to ensure professional and personal growth so that the highest levels of serving leadership can be attained:

To Master, To Grow and To Serve, with integrity, passion and humility.

A scientific symposium honoring Dr. Eng’s life and legacy will be held at the Cleveland Clinic in the fall. Family services will be held. The family prefers that those who wish may make contributions in her memory by visiting: https://give.ccf.org/CharisEng.