Lung Cancer Task Force
The Lung Cancer Task Force brings together leading experts committed to advancing the field of lung cancer research. This distinguished group of thought leaders is focused on establishing both short- and long-term priorities across the entire research continuum – including basic and translational science, diagnostics, early detection, treatment, and population sciences. Through a bold, collaborative, and integrative approach, the Task Force is working to accelerate progress and improve outcomes for patients affected by lung cancer.
Recent activity
Publications: In June 2026, the AACR Lung Cancer Task Force published a paper in AACR’s Cancer Discovery journal titled: “A Roadmap to Transform Lung Cancer Outcomes: Priorities in Biology, Therapeutic Innovation, Early Detection, Prevention, and Interception”
Conferences: An upcoming AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Redefining Lung Cancer: From Mechanistic Biology to Emerging and AI‑Driven Therapies, in association with the AACR Lung Cancer Task Force, will be held on January 14-17, 2027, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, San Diego, California.
task force members
Charles Swanton, MBPhD
Royal Society Napier Professor
Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory
The Francis Crick Institute and UCL Cancer Institute
London, United Kingdom
Christopher Abbosh, MD, PhD
Executive Director Oncology R&D Strategy
AstraZeneca
London, United Kingdom
Christine D. Berg, MD
National Cancer Institute (Retired)
Bethesda, Maryland
Benjamin Besse, MD, PhD
Head of Clinical Research
Gustave Roussy
Villejuif, France
Trevor G. Bivona, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Fiona H. Blackhall, MD, PhD
Professor of Thoracic Oncology
Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
University of Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom
Julie R. Brahmer, MD
Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program
Professor of Oncology
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Iona C. Cheng, PhD, MPH
Professor and Chief
Cancer Epidemiology Division
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Dave Chuter
Patient Advocate
Cancer Grand Challenges
Bognor Regis, United Kingdom
Harry J. De Koning, MD, PhD
Deputy Head
Professor of Public Health and Screening
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD
Jack, Lulu, and Sam Wilson Professor of Radiation Oncology
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Caroline Dive, PhD
Interim Director and Director
CRUK National Biomarker Centre
CRUK Manchester Institute
Manchester, United Kingdom
Julian Downward, PhD
Principal Group Leader
Francis Crick Institute
London, United Kingdom
Susan M. Galbraith, MBBChir, PhD
Executive Vice President
AstraZeneca
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Ramaswamy Govindan, MD
Professor of Medicine
Anheuser Busch Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, Missouri
Alena Gros, PhD
Group Leader
Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy
Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology
Barcelona, Spain
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD
Director
Dartmouth Cancer Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire
John V. Heymach, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair
Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD
Deputy Director and Professor of Oncology
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, MD, PhD
Clinical Scientist
Department of Medical Oncology
University College London Cancer Institute
London, United Kingdom
Sam Janes, MBBS, MSc, PhD
Professor of Respiratory Medicine
University College London Cancer Institute
London, England
Pasi A. Janne, MD, PhD
Director
Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, Massachusetts
Christopher A. Klebanoff, MD
Associate Member
Attending Physician
Laboratory Head, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York
Norbert Kraut, PhD
Global Head of Cancer Research
Boehringer Ingelheim
Vienna, Austria
Se-Hoon Lee, MD, PhD
Professor
Division of Hematology/Oncology
Department of Medicine
Samsung Medical Center/Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine
Seoul, South Korea
Christine M. Lovly, MD, PhD
Division Chief, Thoracic Medical Oncology
Professor, Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
Duarte, California
Nicholas McGranahan, PhD
Group Leader
Cancer Genome Evolution Research Group
University College London Cancer Institute
London, United Kingdom
Miriam Merad, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy
Director, Mount Sinai Human Immune Monitoring Center
Director, Marc and Jennifer Lipschultz Precision Immunology Institute
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York
Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD
Professor of Genetics and Medicine
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, Massachusetts
Tony S.K. Mok, MD
Associate Professor
Department of Clinical Oncology
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China
Solange Peters, MD, PhD
Professor and Head of Medical Oncology
CHUV Lausanne University Hospital
Lausanne, Switzerland
Katerina A. Politi, PhD
Professor
Department of Pathology
Yale Cancer Center
New Haven, Connecticut
Sergio Quezada, PhD
Professor
Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy
University College London Cancer Institute
London, United Kingdom
Arati V. Rao, MD
Vice President
Thoracic Oncology
Therapeutic Area Development Head
Pfizer, Inc.
New York, New York
Charles M. Rudin, MD, PhD
Director
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York
Kurt Schalper, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology
Director
Translational Immuno-oncology Laboratory
Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut
Lecia V. Sequist, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD
Chair of the Department of Medical Oncology and Chief of Strategic Partnerships
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
George P. Canellos, MD, and Jean S. Canellos Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
Lillian L. Siu, MD
Director, Phase I Clinical Trials Program
Co-director, Robert and Maggie Bras and Family Drug Development Program
Clinical Lead, Tumor Immunotherapy Program
BMO Chair, Precision Cancer Genomics
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
University Health Network
Professor of Medicine
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada
Benjamin J. Solomon, MBBS, PhD
Consultant Medical Oncologist
Peter MacCallum Cancer Center
Melbourne, Australia
Jean-Charles Soria, MD, PhD
Senior Vice President
Oncology, Global Development
Amgen
Thousand Oaks, California
Avrum E. Spira, MD
Global Head of Interventional Oncology
Johnson & Johnson
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Brendon M. Stiles, MD
Chief
Thoracic Surgery and Surgical Oncology
Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx, New York
Daniel S.W. Tan, MBBS, PhD
Senior Consultant
Division of Medical Oncology
Head
Division of Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Sciences
Principal Investigator
Cancer Therapeutics Research Laboratory
Associate Professor
Duke-NUS Medical School
National Cancer Centre Singapore
Singapore
Jennifer S. Temel, MD
Professor of Medicine and Associate Physician
Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
C. Jillian Tsai, MD, PhD
Lead
Allan and Ruth Kerbel Palliative Radiotherapy and Oligometastasis Program
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Toronto, Canada
Victor E. Velculescu, MD, PhD
Co-director of Cancer Biology
Professor of Oncology
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Everett E. Vokes, MD
John E. Ultmann Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine
Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology
Chair, Department of Medicine
Physician-in-Chief
University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences
University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Johnathan R. Whetstine, PhD
Professor, Jack Schultz Basic Science Endowed Chair
Director, Cancer Epigenetics Institute
Program Co-leader Nuclear Dynamics and Cancer
Director, Genomics Resource
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Robert A. Winn, MD, FAACR
Director
Fox Chase Comprehensive Cancer Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Monte M. Winslow, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Genetics and Pathology
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California
Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD
Division Director of Hematology and Medical Oncology
NYU Langone Health
New York, New York
James Chih-Hsin Yang, MD, PhD
Director
Graduate Institute of Oncology
Director
Department of Oncology
National Taiwan University Hospital
Taipei, Taiwan, China
Timothy A. Yap, MBBS, PhD
Professor
Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (Phase I Program)
Division of Cancer Medicine
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas