MD, PhD
Executive Director, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
System Chief of Oncology Services, UNC Health
UNC-Chapel Hill
Immunology
Area of Interest
Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, is the Executive Director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chief of Oncology Services for UNC Health. He is a head and neck surgical oncologist, and leading expert in cancer immunotherapy.
Ferris is a pioneering cancer immunotherapist who develops and implements immunotherapy to stimulate the body’s immune system to eliminate and suppress cancer. He studies how immune cells in the tumor microenvironment can be harnessed to combat cancer and how tumor cells evade the body’s immunologic defenses.
He has led several practice-changing, prospective randomized trials — including those that led to the approval of immunotherapy for head and neck cancer — and tested treatment deintensification for good prognosis HPV+ head and neck cancer after transoral surgery. He leads a National Cancer Institute-funded immunotherapy laboratory.
Ferris currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research and Cancer Immunology Research, and as section editor for the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. He is editor-in-chief of Oral Oncology.
Ferris has published more than 420 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and was co-chair of the National Cancer Institute Head and Neck Steering committee for six years to facilitate prospective clinical trials. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the recipient of numerous research and teaching awards.
News and Stories
Scientific retreat highlights the depth and breadth of cancer center research
The annual scientific retreat featured scientific presentations, a state of the cancer center overview from UNC Lineberger Director Shelley Earp, MD, and a talk on the cancer center’s future direction by incoming UNC Lineberger Executive Director Robert Ferris, MD, PhD.
Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, appointed executive director of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, a head and neck surgical oncologist, leading expert in cancer immunotherapy and cancer center chief executive, has been named the executive director of UNC Lineberger.
