Robert L. Ferris
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Head and Neck Research
- Head and Neck Surgeon
450 West Drive
10-000 General Administration Suite
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7295
United States
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Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, is the Executive Director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chief of Oncology Clinical Services of the UNC Health System.
He is a head and neck surgical oncologist and tumor immunologist who leads neoadjuvant “window” trials testing novel immuno-oncology agents, combinations, and biomarkers. His NIH-funded laboratory studies anti-tumor immunity and mechanisms of tumor escape, with a focus on reversing immune evasion through monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. This work has led to the world’s first randomized Phase II–III trials of head and neck cancer immunotherapy.
Dr. Ferris has published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific and clinical publications that have garnered nearly 60,000 citations and an h-index of 120. He was lead investigator of several practice-changing, prospective randomized trials, including Checkmate-141 (published in NEJM), which led to the FDA approval of Nivolumab for head and neck cancer and ECOG 3311 (published in JCO in 2021), testing radiation dose-deintensification after transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for HPV+ oropharynx cancer, which is being incorporated into the latest NCCN guidelines. He currently leads ECOG-ACRIN 3132, using p53 mutational testing in HPV-negative cancer, to predict response to radiation versus chemoradiation.
Dr. Ferris has served on the editorial boards of JNCI, JCO, Clinical Cancer Research, and Cancer Immunology Research. He is editor-in-chief of Oral Oncology. He recently completed a 6-year term co-chairing the NCI Steering Committee for Head and Neck Cancer. He served as a standing member of NCI Committee A reviewing cancer centers and previously chaired the NIH Tumor Microenvironment Study Section. He has led two NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, at the University of Pittsburgh Hillman (2017-2024) and now UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Ferris has co-founded two early-phase immuno-oncology companies, in therapeutics discovery and development and in cellular therapeutic strategies for solid and liquid tumors. He also serves on scientific advisory boards for a number of biotech companies.
Dr. Ferris was trained at Johns Hopkins, where he received his MD and PhD in Immunology, a residency in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, and subspecialty training in head and neck oncologic surgery.