Yale Cancer Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, as the inaugural Deputy Director for Clinical Affairs at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital. The new appointment is effective immediately and is in addition to Herbst’s role as Chief of the Section of Medical Oncology and Associate Cancer Center Director for Translational Research at Yale Cancer Center.
“Dr. Herbst and I will work closely together on all aspects of our clinical programs to ensure our future success,” said Eric P. Winer, MD, Director of Yale Cancer Center and Physician-in-Chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital. “Given Dr. Herbst’s longstanding commitment to the integration of clinical, translational, and basic research programs, he is uniquely qualified for this position.”
Herbst is an international leader in the research and clinical care of lung cancer, having conducted groundbreaking clinical and translational research over the past two decades. He has been a leader in the development of personalized medicine as well as the highly successful use of targeted therapies and immunotherapy in patients with lung cancer. His paradigm-changing work has resulted in numerous new drug approvals for multiple diseases and he is one of Yale Cancer Centers most highly cited researchers.
Nationally, Herbst is a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and an elected board member of both the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and an elected member of the Association of American Physicians. An expert in the design and conduct of innovative clinical trials, Herbst is the founding and current Principal Investigator of the National Clinical Trials Network Lung Cancer Master protocol, which has enrolled over 4,000 patients nationwide. He has a strong commitment to mentorship, education, and diversity and is one of the leaders of the BMSF/AACR diversity in clinical trials career development program.
Herbst earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Yale University, his medical degree at Cornell University Medical College, and his PhD in molecular cell biology at The Rockefeller University. He undertook his residency and fellowship training in hematology and oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and later earned an MS in Clinical Investigation from Harvard University. Prior to joining Yale in 2011 as Ensign Professor of Medicine, Herbst was the Barnhart Family Distinguished Professor in Targeted Therapies and Chief of the section of Thoracic Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.