Brian Druker, M.D., director of the Knight Cancer Institute, gave the 2019 Knight Campus Distinguished Lecture, titled “Imatinib as a Paradigm of Targeted Cancer Therapies.” Dr. Druker discussed how he spearheaded the highly successful clinical trials of imatinib for chronic myeloid leukemia, which led to FDA approval of the drug in record time. This work changed the life expectancy of patients with CML from an average of 3 to 5 years, to a 95% five-year survival and has resulted in a paradigm-shift in cancer treatment from non-specific chemotherapy to highly targeted therapeutic agents. His lecture focused on how this drug was developed, the hurdles he faced, and how this paradigm is now being applied widely for the treatment of cancer.