Walter Urba

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Walter Urba, MD, PhD

Director, Earl A. Chiles Research Institute, Robert W. Franz Cancer Center, Providence

Calculated based on the number of publications stored in Pure and citations from PlumX
Calculated based on the number of publications stored in Pure and citations from PlumX
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
1978 …2024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

About

For more than 35 years, I have been engaged in immunological and immunotherapy research focused on translating basic science research discoveries from the laboratory bench to the cancer patient’s bedside. As a board-certified medical oncologist specializing in melanoma with a PhD in Immunology, I have been a leader in oncology for many years and have extensive experience as a principal investigator of numerous clinical studies of biological agents, including monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, vaccines and adoptive immunotherapy.  After several years leading the clinical division of the NCI’s Biological Response Modifiers Program, I joined Providence Health & Services in 1993 as director of cancer research for the Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center in the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute (EACRI) and medical director of the cancer program at Providence Portland Medical Center. I have served as chair of the FDA advisory committee for Cells, Tissues and Gene Therapy, been a member of the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors for Clinical Sciences and Epidemiology, Chair of the Protocol Reengineering Working Group, and member of the Immunotherapy Agent Workshop and Cancer Antigen Prioritization Committees organized by the NCI.  I served as the principal investigator on the multi-center international randomized trial of ipilimumab, approved by the FDA in 2011 as the first agent to improve survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. I have been an active member of the Cytokine Working Group, the melanoma committee of the Southwest Oncology Group and served on many scientific advisory boards and data safety monitoring committees. I was the site Co-PI for the Providence site of the NCI-sponsored Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network. I am also Co-PI for the Providence site in the BMS International Immuno-Oncology Network comprising 15 sites worldwide. I am the Providence PI for the ASCO-sponsored TAPUR study and Providence PI for the AACR-sponsored Genie Project. Currently, as institute director and physician director for research, I am responsible for all aspects of our research program, including basic science, clinical trials, regulatory, contracts and budgeting, protocol selection, as well as clinical research management.

Education/Academic qualification

Medical Oncology Fellowship, National Institute of Health

1983 → 1986

Medical Residency, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, New Jersey, Affiliate - Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

1981 → 1983

MD, University of Miami

1979 → 1981

PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

1975 → 1979

Bachelor, Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway

1970 → 1974

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