The story of a pale blue dot

Professor of Medicine and Director of the George Washington Cancer Center Dr. Julie Bauman recently joined George Washington University (GW) as their new Director of the GW Cancer Center and professor of medicine in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS). Previously Dr. Bauman resided at the University of Arizona (UA) College of Medicine-Tucson, where she served as professor of medicine, chief of hematology/oncology, and medical director of oncology services. Dr. Bauman also served as the deputy director of the UA Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-leader of its Clinical and Translational Oncology Program, which brings together basic and clinical scientists to transform scientific discoveries into clinical applications. Bauman was also the co-principal investigator of the UA Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network, one of only five NCI-funded clinical trial networks devoted to drug development for cancer prevention. Her own research focuses on so-called “green chemoprevention,” or the use of whole plants or their extracts for cancer prevention. Bauman leads multiple national clinical trials for the treatment of head and neck cancer, with dedicated expertise in precision medicine and immunotherapy. She is the current co-chair of the NCI Cancer Prevention Steering Committee as well as the co-chair of the NCI Head and Neck Steering Committee’s PULA Task Force. Dr. Bauman completed a dual MD/MPH degree at Tufts University School of Medicine, an internal medicine residency at the University of Utah, and medical oncology fellowship at the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Her education and training, at the intersection of oncology and public health, resulted in unique expertise in clinical trial design. As a recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award, Bauman is a nationally recognized leader in cancer therapeutics for both prevention and treatment, with more than 150 publications and a long track record of NIH team science funding.

Director of Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Research Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center Jimeno is director of the Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Research Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, a member of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine, and the Daniel and Janet Mordecai Endowed Chair for Cancer Stem Cell Research at the CU School of Medicine. Dr. Jimeno’s research focuses on studying how head and neck cancer stem cells trick the immune system. One of his current projects constitutes developing new animal models for melanoma that allow the study and testing of immunotherapies against cancer. Jimeno’s solution has been to transplant a human immune system along with human tumor samples to create “humanized” animal models. These models with both cancer and an intact immune system allow researchers to test the ability of new drugs and treatments to turn the immune system against cancer. Dr. Jimeno graduated from the University of Valladolid School of Medicine in 1998 with his medical degree, and the Complutense University of Madrid in 2003 with his PhD. He completed his residency and fellowship program at Complutense University of Madrid. Dr. Jimeno did a second fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Program until 2006.

Chair of the Department of Head and Neck-Endocrine Oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center Dr. Christine Chung is a medical oncologist, researcher, and chair of the Department of Head and Neck-Endocrine Oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center since 2015. Prior to Moffitt, Dr. Chung was an associate professor in the Department of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Dr. Chung’s laboratory is accredited for being among the first to recognize the importance of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the etiology of certain head and neck cancers. This data provided evidence that HPV-positive tumors may be more sensitive to chemotherapy and molecular inhibitors that specifically target cell cycle. In addition, her research findings contributed to establish the prognostic implication of HPV status. Patients with HPV-positive HNC have a better prognosis compared to patients with HPV-negative HNC. Dr. Chung is conducting clinical trials to develop less toxic but effective molecularly targeted agents which can potentially benefit this subset of HNC patients. Dr. Chung attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for her undergraduate studies where she majored in biochemistry. She earned her master’s in interdisciplinary science studies with a focus in molecular biology at Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. Chung completed her residency and fellowship in internal medicine and medical oncology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. It was in the last year of her fellowship in Chapel Hill that Dr. Chung began focusing on head and neck cancers.

Co-director of Precision Immunotherapy Clinic at UC San Diego Health Moores Cancer Center Dr. Ezra Cohen is the co-director of Precision Immunotherapy Clinic, associate director for translational science, and the leader of the Solid Tumor Therapeutics research program at UC San Diego Health’s Moores Cancer Center. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Cohen also leads a laboratory that studies novel cancer treatments, including immunotherapy, and has significantly contributed to understanding how targeted cancer therapies work. Much of his work has focused on squamous cell carcinomas and cancers of the thyroid, salivary gland, and HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded work in the study of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors in head and neck cancer has contributed to the understanding of the biology of this critical signaling network, integration of these agents into the standard of care, and definition of mechanisms to overcome resistance. Cohen has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed papers and has been the principal investigator of multiple clinical trials of new drugs for head and neck cancer and other solid tumors in all phases of development. Dr. Cohen completed a hematology/oncology fellowship at the University of Chicago, where he was named chief fellow. He completed residencies in family medicine at the University of Toronto and in internal medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Cohen earned his medical degree at the University of Toronto. He is board certified in medical oncology, and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPSC) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO). Dr. Cohen recently served as editor-in-chief of Oral Oncology, the most respected specialty journal in head and neck cancer. In addition, he has served as a grant reviewer for the NIH, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Oncology and McGraw Chair in Head and Neck Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Dr. Robert Haddad is a medical oncologist, professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Oncology and McGraw Chair in Head and Neck Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Haddad current research involves the use of concurrent and sequential chemoradiotherapy regimens for patients with locally advanced and metastatic head and neck cancer. He is leading numerous trials of novel agents in head and neck cancer, particularly in the areas of immunotherapy and novel biologic agents. Further, his research interests also include the role of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as a cause of head and neck cancer, particularly in the effect of such infection on treatment and prognosis and in the search for HPV-related biomarkers that can be useful for early detection, risk stratification, and detection of early relapse. Dr. Haddad is a member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, European Society of Medical al Oncology, and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. Dr. Haddad lectures extensively on head and neck cancer, both on the national and international level, and has authored over 169 publications. Dr Haddad received his MD Degree from St. Joseph University French School of Medicine in Beirut. He completed his residency in internal medicine at St Luke’s Roosevelt Medical Center in New York City and completed a fellowship in hematology oncology at the University of Maryland Cancer Center in Baltimore.

Medical oncologist and researcher at UC-San Francisco Dr. Hyunseok Kang, who goes by Hyu, is a medical oncologist and researcher who cares for adults with head and neck cancers at UC-San Francisco. Dr. Kang’s research focuses on evaluating new therapies for head and neck cancers through clinical trials. He studies how to improve the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (drugs that turn off the ability of some cancer cells to evade detection by immune system cells) with combination approaches to treating head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. He is also working on developing targeted approaches to treat rare cancers of the head and neck, such as salivary gland cancers. Prior to joining UCSF, Kang worked as a medical oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and served as an assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Kang is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, and American Thyroid Association. He also serves on specialty head and neck committees for NRG Oncology and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group–American College of Radiology Imaging Network. Dr. Kang earned his medical degree at Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, and statistics from Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West, followed by a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Emory University School of Medicine.

Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Director of the Yale Head and Neck Specialized Program of Research Excellence Dr. Barbara Burtness is a Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Interim Associate Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Yale Cancer Center. She serves as Co-Leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program, Leader of the Disease Aligned Research for Head and Neck Cancer, and Director of the Yale Head and Neck Specialized Program of Research Excellence. Dr. Burtness chairs the ECOG-ACRIN Cooperative Group Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Committee and leads national and international trials of targeted therapy in head and neck cancer. Her laboratory studies synthetic lethal therapeutic strategies in head and neck cancer and the targeting of aurora kinase A to overcome adaptive resistance to EGFR inhibition and - in lung cancer- to direct KRAS inhibition. Dr. Burtness completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at Bryn Mawr College before enrolling at Stony Brook University for her medical degree. She completed her internship and residency at Yale New Haven Hospital and her fellowship at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Following her fellowship in 1993, Burtness returned to Yale University as an oncologist and cancer researcher until 2008 when she became the Chief of head and neck oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. In 2014, she returned to Yale where she remains to this day.

Professor of Medicine and Director of the Phase I Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Dr. Lilian Siu has been a senior medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre since 1998 and has been a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto since 2009. She is the Director of the Phase I Program and Co-Director of the Bras and Family Drug Development Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and holds the BMO Chair in Precision Genomics (2016-2026). She is also the Clinical Lead for the Tumor Immunotherapy Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Siu served on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for a four-year term (2012-2016). Dr. Siu’s major research focus is on new anticancer drug development, particularly with respect to phase I trials and head and neck malignancies. In addition to her active research in early-phase clinical trials, Dr. Siu has been leading genomics initiatives and immuno-oncology trials at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Siu has published over 280 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and she is currently a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery and is on the editorial board for JAMA Oncology. Dr. Siu obtained her medical degree at the University of Toronto, completed her fellowship at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and completed drug development fellowships at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the University of Texas Science Center San Antonio.