Giants of Cancer Care: OncLive Honors 14 Pioneers

For the 14th consecutive year, OncLive^® is honored to recognize oncology leaders whose innovations have contributed to immeasurable improvements in outcomes for countless patients with cancer. The 14 winners of the 2026 Giants of Cancer Care awards have made their mark with novel therapies and protocols across the spectrum of care.

Here are the 2026 honorees:

Breast Cancer

Javier Cortés, MD, PhD
Ramón y Cajal University Hospital
International Breast Cancer Centre (IBCC)

• Cortés is a founding partner of Medica Scientia Innovation Research (MEDSIR), a company dedicated to the development of clinical trials.
• He has authored more than 400 publications, mostly surrounding breast cancers and novel therapies. Has also had more than 800 communication roles at conferences.
• He was the lead study author of the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast03 trial (NCT03529110), which showed an improvement in progression-free survival with the antibody-drug conjugate fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd; Enhertu) compared with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) in patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who previously received at least 1 anti–HER2-based regimen. The data were the basis for the FDA and European Union May 2022 and July 2022 approvals, respectively, for use of the agent in this patient population.
• He also led the phase 3 KEYNOTE-355 trial (NCT02819518), which showed that patients with locally recurrent unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer that is PD-L1 positive with a combined positive score of at least 10 experience improved overall survival with the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone. The benefit led to the November 2020 FDA accelerated approval of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in this setting, which was later converted to a full approval in July 2021.
• Much of his research focuses on the development of novel therapies that target the HER2 oncogene in breast cancer and how to overcome resistance to current regimens. Additionally, he contributed to research published in 2011 that identified that quantitative cyclin E alterations are linked with trastuzumab (Herceptin) resistance.
• His efforts have also contributed to the development of bevacizumab (Avastin), pertuzumab (Perjeta), eribulin mesylate (Halaven), and everolimus (Afinitor) as treatment for patients with metastatic breast cancer, as well as intracellular signaling molecules such as dasatinib (Sprycel).

Community Outreach & Education

Patrick I. Borgen, MD
Maimonides Breast Center
Maimonides Medical Center

• Borgen previously served as chairman of the American College of Surgeons Breast Cancer Trials Group. He was also a member of the Executive Board of Directors of the American Society for the Study of Breast Disease.
• He has served as a Vincent Feliciano Memorial Lecturer, a 2002 Harvey Lecturer for the American Association of Cancer Educators, and a Lawson Memorial Visiting Professor at East Tennessee State University.
• He was recognized as a top oncologist in publications and listings, including America’s Top Doctors; Top Doctors: New York Metro Area; New York magazine’s Top Doctors (2002-2025); America’s Top Doctors for Cancer (2015- 2020); Top Doctors New York Metro Area (2016-2023); and Brooklyn’s Courier Life (2021-2025).
• In 2023, he coauthored a study highlighting the lack of racial diversity in surgery and pathology textbooks that depict breast diseases.
• In 2021, he coauthored a protocol for establishing interdisciplinary care teams for surgical residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, FACP
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

• Kopetz is widely recognized for his translational and clinical research with encorafenib (Braftovi) and cetuximab (Erbitux), which established a new standard of care for BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). He led the phase 3 BEACON CRC trial (NCT02928224), which supported the 2020 FDA approval of encorafenib plus cetuximab, and the phase 3 BREAKWATER trial (NCT04607421), which supported the December 2024 FDA accelerated approval and subsequent February 2026 full FDA approval of encorafenib plus cetuximab and mFOLFOX6 as a first-line standard of care.
• He also served as a lead investigator on key clinical studies evaluating vemurafenib, cetuximab, and irinotecan, which resulted in additions to NCCN guidelines.
• Kopetz received the AACR Waun Ki Hong Award for Outstanding Achievement in Translational and Clinical Cancer Research in 2024 from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) for pioneering novel therapies for BRAF-mutated mCRC.
• His work has advanced the understanding of resistance mechanisms and optimal therapy strategies in CRC using molecular profiling and patient-derived models.
• He has received multiple institutional and professional honors, including the MD Anderson President’s Recognition of Faculty Excellence Award.
• Kopetz holds a range of leadership positions, including vice chair of CRC research for the NRG Cooperative Group.
• Kopetz has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet Oncology, JAMA, Cancer Discovery, Nature Medicine, and Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology.

Genitourinary Cancer

Daniel J. George, MD
Duke Cancer Institute
Duke University School of Medicine

• George’s research focuses on new and emerging therapies, diagnostic tests, and biomarkers, specifically immuno-oncology agents and targeted therapies.
• He participated in the development of abiraterone and enzalutamide (Xtandi) for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer, including coauthoring a study of the effects of prostate-specific membrane antigen positivity on treatment outcomes.
• He previously served as the interim chair of the Alliance Genitourinary Committee.
• In 2024, he was honored with the Kidney Cancer Association’s Nicholas J. Vogelzang Humanitarian Award.
• Beginning in 2021, he served a 3-year term on the Kidney Cancer Association’s Medical Steering Committee.
• He previously held the American Cancer Society IMPACT Professorship in Prostate Cancer; his research investigated differences in patient and provider experiences in men with prostate cancer, specifically for patients from underserved populations.

Head & Neck Cancers

Robert I. Haddad, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Harvard Medical School

• Haddad was the first author of a randomized phase 2 study (NCT00095927) published in 2009 in Cancer that demonstrated the efficacy of concomitant chemoradiotherapy with weekly carboplatin/paclitaxel in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.
• He was also the lead study author on the 2013 readout of the phase 3 PARADIGM trial (NCT00095875), which compared sequential induction chemoradiotherapy vs concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. This trial showed no survival difference between the 2 arms, and the study authors concluded that oncologists should use their best judgment when treating individual patients. However, these findings did show that the addition of induction chemotherapy is appropriate for many patients with advanced disease at high risk for local or distant recurrence.
• He was honored by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as the McGraw Chair in Head and Neck Oncology, the center’s first endowed position in head and neck cancers. He received this honor, in part, for his role in pivotal phase 3 studies that supported the FDA approval of docetaxel, nivolumab (Opdivo), and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in head and neck cancers.
• He was also a coauthor on the phase 3 LEAP-010 trial (NCT04199104), which showed that first-line lenvatinib (Lenvima) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly improved objective response rate and progression-free survival vs placebo plus pembrolizumab in patients with PD-L1–positive recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
• Since 2013, he has contributed to the publication of NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology updates for head and neck cancers and thyroid carcinoma.

Leukemia

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

• Wierda’s primary focus is translational research in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with particular interests in prognostic factors and the development of prognostic models, immune and gene therapies for patients with CLL, and the development of chemoimmunotherapy regimens and treatment strategies for patients with relapsed/ refractory CLL.
• He was a coinvestigator on the phase 3 ELEVATE-TN trial (NCT02475681), whose data helped support the 2019 FDA approval of acalabrutinib (Calquence) for the treatment of patients with CLL or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).
• The 2024 FDA approval of lisocabtagene maraleucel (Breyanzi) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed/ refractory CLL or SLL who have previously received at least 2 prior lines of therapy, including a BTK inhibitor and a BCL2 inhibitor, was based on data from the phase 1/2 TRANSCEND CLL-004 trial (NCT03331198), for which Wierda was an investigator.
• Wierda was also an investigator on the phase 1/2 BRUIN trial (NCT03740529), which led to the FDA approval of pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca) for the treatment of adult patients with CLL or SLL who have received at least 2 prior lines of therapy, including a BTK inhibitor and a BCL2 inhibitor.
• He led a multicenter phase 2 trial (NCT00349349) that evaluated ofatumumab (Arzerra) in patients with CLL refractory to fludarabine and alemtuzumab; data from this study supported the FDA approval of this agent in this indication in 2009.

Lymphoma

Wyndham H. Wilson, MD, PhD
Center for Cancer Research
National Cancer Institute

• Wilson’s research in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma has focused on developing strategies to reverse drug resistance, determining schedule dependence of cytotoxic agents and dose intensity, developing novel agents with a particular focus on T-cell toxins, and identifying clinical mechanisms of drug resistance.
• He previously served as chair of the FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee and chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Institutional Review Board.
• Wilson currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Lymphoma Research Foundation and the Lymphoma Steering Committee of the Cooperative Groups of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the NCI and the National Institutes of Health.
• Along with colleagues from the Lymphoid Malignancies Branch of the NCI, Wilson identified 4 genetic subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with distinct genotypic, epigenetic, and clinical characteristics, which could help drive precision medicine strategies in this space.
• He was an investigator on a phase 2 study (NCT01092182) that showed that treatment with dose-adjusted etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and rituximab (Rituxan) was effective and well tolerated in adult patients with Burkitt lymphoma, irrespective of age or HIV status.

Myeloma

Irene M. Ghobrial, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Harvard Medical School

• Ghobrial founded the Ghobrial Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which focuses its research on early detection and intervention for patients with precursor conditions at risk of developing B-cell malignancies. Her research centers on identifying novel biomarkers for disease progression and developing potentially curative therapies targeting the immune microenvironment in the bone marrow of patients with precursor conditions.
• Ghobrial led early-phase research demonstrating the safety and efficacy of combination regimens containing the CXCR4-CXCL12 inhibitor ulocuplumab for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Since these early efforts, other CXCR4 axis research has emerged in myeloma.
• She has led several clinical trials in myeloma precursor conditions, including the PROMISE trial (NCT03689595), which was the first population-based screening study for myeloma precursor conditions in the United States. Findings showed that monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance/smoldering multiple myeloma was detected in over 30,000 individuals deemed to be at high risk, many of whom are African American and firstdegree relatives of patients with myeloma.
• Ghobrial is the recipient of the National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award and the William Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology.
• She also received the 2022 Jan Gosta Waldenstrom Award from the International Workshop on Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia.
• Ghobrial has contributed to the International Myeloma Society/International Myeloma Working Group Consensus Recommendations on the Definition of High-Risk Multiple Myeloma.

Prevention/Genetics

Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil
Yale University

• Pusztai is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, a member of the NCI Breast Cancer Steering Committee, a cochair of the Trans-ALTTO Committee, and the chair of the Data Safety Monitoring Committee of the OPTIMA trial (ISRCTN42400492) in the United Kingdom.
• He made key contributions to clarify the clinical value of preoperative chemotherapy in different breast cancer subtypes and was part of the first group to show that basal-like breast cancers have significantly higher chemotherapy sensitivity than estrogen receptor–positive cancers.
• He conducted the first clinical trial in cancer to test several gene signatures as patient selection tools for a biologically targeted drug—the trial examined dasatinib (Sprycel)—and is known as a pioneer in evaluating gene expression profiling as a diagnostic technology to predict chemotherapy and endocrine therapy sensitivity.
• Pusztai is the chair of the SWOG Breast Cancer Research Committee.
• He has published more than 450 scientific manuscripts and is among the top 1% most-cited clinical investigators in medicine over the past 10 years.

Supportive, Palliative, and/or Geriatric Care

Kathleen M. Foley, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

• Foley established the first designated pain service within a cancer center in the United States in the Department of Neurology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 1981. This was later expanded into the Pain & Palliative Care Service, shifting clinical practice toward systematic assessment and treatment of cancer-related pain.
• She served as director of the Open Society Institute’s Project on Death in America and as director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Cancer Pain Research and Education, chairing multiple WHO expert committees and producing influential global monographs on cancer pain and palliative care.
• Foley was elected to the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences and served as past president of the American Pain Society.
• Her honors include the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor, the David Karnofsky Award and Lecture from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Frank Netter Award from the American Academy of Neurology, and both the Distinguished Service Award and the Humanitarian Award from the American Cancer Society/
• She was also appointed to the Pontifical Academy for Life by Pope Francis as part of the Vatican’s efforts on advancing palliative care internationally.
• She has published more than 290 scientific papers and edited 7 books on cancer pain, analgesia, and palliative care, and has served on the editorial boards of more than 2 dozen medical journals.

Thoracic Malignancies

Heather Wakelee, MD
Stanford University School of Medicine

• Wakelee is a thoracic medical oncologist specializing in lung cancer, thymoma, and mesothelioma. She received her MD from Johns Hopkins University in 1996, completed residency and fellowship training at Stanford, and joined the Stanford faculty in 2003.
• She led the landmark phase 3 IMpower010 trial (NCT02486718) evaluating adjuvant atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in resected earlystage non–small cell lung cancer, which formed the basis for the FDA approval of atezolizumab in this setting in 2021.
• Wakelee is the lead investigator for the ECOG-ACRIN clinical trials group at Stanford and has served on the board of directors of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), including as its president.
• She has authored or coauthored more than 180 medical articles on thoracic malignancies; she also received a Merit Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology in 2003 and a Young Investigator Award from ECOG-ACRIN in 2015.
• Her research spans targeted therapy resistance (EGFR and ALK inhibitors), novel immune modulatory agents, and population science examining sex differences and ethnic disparities in lung cancer outcomes.

Gynecologic Malignancies

Tate Thigpen, MD
University of Mississippi School of Medicine

• Thigpen served for 43 years on the faculty of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, including as division director of oncology from 1978 to 2013 and director of hematology and oncology from 2013 until his retirement in 2017. He was named LS professor emeritus at the conclusion of his career.
• He completed his MD, residency, and fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Mississippi.
• Thigpen is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both internal medicine and hematology. He received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology for his contributions to gynecologic cancer research.
• He was inducted into the University of Mississippi Medical Center Medical Alumni Hall of Fame in August 2019, recognizing his transformative effect on cancer care and research in Mississippi over his 5-decade career.
• Thigpen contributed extensively to the peer-reviewed literature in gynecologic oncology, particularly ovarian cancer

Radiation Oncology

Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, MAS, FASTRO, FACR
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

• Yom is the editor in chief of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, chair of the NRG Oncology Head and Neck Cancer Committee, and a board member and the Guidelines and Protocols Committee Cochair for the Head and Neck Cancer International Group.
• She serves as a member of the NCCN Head and Neck Cancers guidelines committee, the Head and Neck Cancer Resource Panel, the Education and Science Education Committees, and the Education Committee of the Health Equity Diversity Inclusion Education Council of the American Society of Radiation Oncology.
• She was previously the founding chair of the Appropriate Use Criteria committees of the American Radium Society, national chair of the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria Radiation Oncology committees, written and oral board examiner for the American Board of Radiology, member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Head and Neck Recurrent/Metastatic Disease Task Force, cochair of the NCI’s Head and Neck Steering Committee, and president of the American Radium Society.
• Yom is the North American chair of the phase 3 NANORAY-312 trial (NCT04892173) of NBTXR3 plus radiation therapy and cetuximab in older patients who are ineligible for platinum-based chemotherapy and have locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
• She is a co-investigator of the NCI’s Cancer Moonshot programs.
• She is the principal investigator of clinical trials evaluating radiation protectants and other interventions to reduce symptom severity and improve patient quality of life.
• Her research interests also include novel imaging, radioprotectants, quality of life and decision support, smoking cessation, and the oral microbiome.

Surgical Oncology

Raphael E. Pollock, MD, PhD, FACS
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

• Pollock was appointed director of the OSUCCC–James Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in 2017 and serves as chief of surgical services and director of the Division of Surgical Oncology.
• Prior to his time at Ohio State, he spent 31 years on faculty at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, including serving as chair of the Department of Surgical Oncology and head of the Division of Surgery.
• Pollock established the Sarcoma Research Laboratory and Sarcoma Tissue Repository, which supports one of the largest clinically annotated sarcoma specimen collections worldwide, and enables his own research on soft tissue sarcomas.
• Pollock’s research into molecular drivers and tumor suppressor biology is used to develop cell lines and cell strains as well as for in vivo implantation to create animal models for preclinical studies.
• Pollock serves as chair of the Sarcoma Committee on the American Joint Committee on Cancer and is a member of advisory boards, including the Sarcoma Foundation of America, the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration, the Union for International Cancer Control TNM Expert Advisory Panel on Sarcoma, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Sarcoma Committee. He is also cochair of the National Cancer Institute’s Genomic Atlas Sarcoma Steering Committee.
• He has authored and coauthored more than 400 research and review articles and edited major oncology textbooks, including Sarcoma Oncology: A Multidisciplinary Approach.
• In 2016, Pollock was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. His own participation in clinical trials gave him unique insight into the patient experience, which has deepened his commitment to patient-centered care and translational science