MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
UNC-Chapel Hill
Immunology Research Program
Area of Interest
Brent Hanks, MD, PhD, is a laboratory-based physician-scientist that manages advanced skin cancer patients as well as patients with upper gastrointestinal malignancies.
In addition to providing patient care, Hanks leads a research lab focused on tumor-mediated immune evasion and immunotherapy resistance. His work explores tumor-intrinsic mechanisms of immune evasion, tumor-driven manipulation of dendritic cell functionality, and the role of tumor-mediated innate training in immunotherapy resistance and immunotherapy-associated toxicities.
Clinical interests: skin cancer, gastric and esophageal cancer, immunotherapy-associated toxicities (immune-related adverse events (irAEs)), biomarker-driven immunotherapy clinical trials, management of cancer patients with standard-of-care immunotherapy-refractory disease, management of cancer patients with a history of autoimmunity or inflammatory disease
Basic and translational interests: tumor-dependent mechanisms of dendritic cell tolerization, dendritic cell antigen cross-presentation in the tumor microenvironment, genetically targeting dendritic cells in situ, tumor-intrinsic signaling pathways that promote primary and adaptive resistance to immunotherapy including the NLRP3 inflammasome and various EMT-associated pathways, tumor-induced recruitment and activation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, tumor-dependent innate training of myeloid progenitor cells, tumor-mediated immune evasion in dormancy and disease relapse
Awards and Honors
- Duke Department of Medicine Distinguished Research Publication Award, 2024
- Elected Member, American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), 2024
- V Foundation 30th Anniversary Gala Therapy Resistance Award, 2024
- Cancer Research Institute CLIP Award, 2022
- ASCO/CCF Advanced Clinical Research Award in Tumor Immunotherapy, 2021
- Duke Department of Medicine Basic and Translational Research Mentoring Award, 2019
- William Dalton Family Endowed Assistant Professorship, 2019
- American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician Scientist Award, 2018
- Duke Health Scholar Award, Duke University Health System, 2016
- Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) Young Investigator Award, 2016
- Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) Young Investigator Award, 2016
- American Society of Clinical Oncology Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), 2012
- North Carolina Oncology Association Fellows Award, North Carolina Oncology Association, 2011
- American Society of Clinical Oncology Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2011
- Duke University Hematology/Oncology Silber Memorial Research Award, Duke University, 2011
- Alpha Omega Alpha, Duke University, 2010
- Duke University Robert Califf Resident Research Award, 2008
- Duke University Barton Haynes Resident Research Award, 2007
- MD/PhD Best Overall Performance in Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, 2006
