About Yale Cancer Center

Meet the Director

Richard L. Edelson, MD began his tenure as Director of Yale Cancer Center on July 1, 2003. Dr. Edelson has been a Professor on the Yale University School of Medicine faculty since 1986 with a continued special interest in the treatment and fundamental investigation of T cell lymphomas. Prior to joining Yale, Dr. Edelson served as the Head of the Immunobiology Group in Columbia University's Comprehensive Cancer Center and as Associate Director of that institution's General Clinical Research Center.

Dr. Edelson is internationally acclaimed for his fundamental contributions to the study of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL), a disease caused by malignant T lymphocytes that affects the skin. After his original identification of this cancer, which has an annual incidence approximating that of Hodgkin's disease, his research group played a central role in deciphering the basic biologic properties of CTCL cells, in delineating the pathogenesis of that serious malignancy, and in developing effective scientifically grounded therapies for it. Dr. Edelson and his research team were the first to successfully use anti-T-cell antibodies in the treatment of a lymphoma and have recently demonstrated that CTCL is an antigen-driven malignancy. Dr. Edelson regularly receives CTCL referrals from around the world.

Along with his research team, Dr. Edelson devised and implemented the first FDA approved selective immunotherapy for any cancer, a treatment now referred to as transimmunization. Transimmunization has been administered worldwide to patients with Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma and to patients with graft versus host disease. This treatment has proven to be a remarkably safe and clinically effective cellular “vaccine” for CTCL patients. Transimmunization is one of the most impressive examples that immunotherapy of advanced cancer is possible.

While at Yale, Dr. Edelson has served the Medical Center in several leadership capacities. In addition to having been Deputy Dean for Clinical Affairs from 2000-2003, he has also served as Director of the Cancer Center's Lymphoma Research Program, participated as a member of both the Yale-New Haven Hospital Board of Trustees and the Yale Medical Group Board of Governors, and has chaired several search committees within the Medical Center.

Dr. Edelson received his Bachelor of Science degree from Hamilton College in New York and was awarded his MD degree from the Yale University School of Medicine. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and has received several honorary memberships from international medical associations, as well as serving on numerous editorial boards. Dr. Edelson has published over 140 original scientific papers, authored or co-authored over 70 review articles and book chapters and 5 books, and holds 20 scientific and therapeutic patents.