On Sunday, March 16, 2025, Dr. Eric Winer interviewed Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Professor of Pharmacology, Deputy Director of Yale Cancer Center, and Chief of Hematology/Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital. Dr. Herbst is nationally recognized for his leadership and expertise in lung cancer treatment and research. He is best known for his work in developmental therapeutics and the personalized therapy of non-small cell lung cancer, in particular the process of linking genetic abnormalities of cancer cells to novel therapies.

This episode of Yale Cancer Answers is the last in a 4-part series in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Yale Cancer Center and 50 years of cancer progress across disciplines. A National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center since 1974, Yale Cancer Center is one of only 56 Centers in the nation.

Dr. Herbst is a highly respected clinician­ scientist who has been a champion of translational medicine for decades, recently authoring a high-profile review of the 20-year progress in lung cancer. For his lifetime achievement in scientific contributions to thoracic cancer research, Dr. Herbst was awarded the 2016 Paul A. Bunn, Jr. Scientific Award by the IASLC at their 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Vienna, Austria. A team of Yale Cancer Center investigators led by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, was awarded the 2018 Team Science Award from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) for its pioneering work in advancing our understanding of Immunotherapy. In 2020, Dr. Herbst was awarded the AACR Distinguished Public Service Award for Exceptional Leadership in Cancer Science Policy. Dr. Herbst is the recipient of the 2022 Giants of Cancer Care^® award for Lung Cancer and was honored by Friends of Cancer Research in 2022 as one of their 25 scientific and advocacy leaders who, through their work and partnership, have been instrumental over the course of the last 25 years in making significant advancements for patients. Over the course of his career, Dr. Herbst has worked to bring novel therapies to the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, bringing us closer to curing this disease.