Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP is the Director of the Cancer Center at Brown University, Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School, and Director of the Joint Program in Cancer Biology at Brown and Lifespan. He is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Mencoff Family University Professor of Medical Science at Brown. He sees patients in his weekly clinic at Rhode Island Hospital focused on care of patients with colorectal cancer and participates in clinical trials based on his laboratory’s research on novel therapeutics. He previously served as Deputy Director for Translational Research, co-Leader of the Molecular Therapeutics Program, Professor of Oncology, and the William Wikoff Smith Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Fox Chase Cancer Center. From 2010 through 2014 Dr. El-Deiry was the Rose Dunlap Professor of Medicine and Chief of Hematology-Oncology at Penn State. In 2009, El-Deiry became an American Cancer Society Research Professor.  He was previously a tenured Professor of Medicine (Hematology-Oncology), Genetics, and Pharmacology at University of Pennsylvania, co-Leader of the Radiobiology and Imaging Program at the Abramson Cancer Center and Associate Director for Physician-Scientist Training in Hematology-Oncology. He earned MD/PhD degrees from University of Miami School of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency and medical oncology fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. El-Deiry has >400 peer-reviewed publications and 5 edited books. In 2021 his H-index is 118 and he has >79,000 citations in Google Scholar. As a practicing academic Oncologist, his scientific interest and expertise is in cell death, drug resistance in cancer and drug discovery and development.  El-Deiry founded two companies, Oncoceutics, Inc. and p53-Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. El-Deiry discovered p21(WAF1) as a p53 target gene, universal cell cycle inhibitor, and tumor suppressor gene that for the first time explained the mammalian cell stress response. He discovered TRAIL receptor DR5 and its regulation by p53. TRAIL is part of the host immune system that suppresses cancer and its metastases. Building on his prior accomplishments, El-Deiry discovered ONC201/TIC10 as a first-in-class TRAIL pathway inducer as a cancer therapeutic.  Patients with among the most aggressive gliomas (H3K27M mutant DIPG) have had exceptional responses to ONC201. As a physician-scientist, Dr. El-Deiry has worked to bring new discoveries to the clinic. He is unraveling the mechanisms involved in anti-cancer drug action by candidate therapeutics his lab has discovered. This includes immune effects and impact of the tumor microenvironment and heterogeneity on therapeutic efficacy. He is exploiting various technologies to perform his translational science that is leading to clinical trials some of which he leads. Dr. El-Deiry conducts basic and translational clinical oncology therapeutics research through funded NIH grants, Foundations and industry. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), Association of American Physicians (AAP), Past President of the Interurban Clinical Club, previous Chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)’s Tumor Biology Track, and past Chair of an NIH Study Section on Cancer Therapeutics. Dr. El-Deiry has trained many students and post-doctoral fellows, physician-scientists, and continues to mentor junior scientists and faculty in basic and translational cancer research.