Mohamed Abazeed, MD, PhD, associate professor of Radiation Oncology and co-leader of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University’s Lung Cancer Program, has been named chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, effective April 15.
“I want to express my sincere appreciation for the thoughtful leadership that has guided this department to where it stands today. As we look to the future, I am excited to lead us into the next chapter — expanding our reach, deepening our academic mission, and advancing care for the patients and communities we serve. As we work together to elevate our shared vision, I am deeply committed to supporting our exceptional faculty, trainees and staff,” Abazeed said.
An outstanding leader in precision cancer therapy, Abazeed brings deep expertise spanning clinical oncology, genetics, cancer genomics, computational biology, machine learning and biostatistics. His research program aims to improve therapies for patients with lung cancer across the translational science spectrum, including developing new technologies and advancing investigator-initiated biomarker and augmented intelligence studies. His team has made significant contributions to identifying tumor mutations and cancer cell states that confer resistance to anti-cancer therapies and developed new technologies and information systems that are designed to reliably predict the likelihood of responses to these therapies. Clinically, Abazeed focuses on patients with thoracic cancer.
Abazeed has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Lancet Digital Health, and The Journal of Clinical Investigation. He currently serves as principal investigator on four grants. He also holds six patents that, in part, describe inventions of first-in-class technology for patients receiving radiotherapy. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Radiological Society of North America and numerous other professional organizations and served as associate editor of Advances in Radiation Oncology. He has received numerous honors, including ARRO Educator of the Year (2021), the ASCO’s Young Investigator Award (2017) and Cleveland Clinic Innovations’ Young Innovator Award (2017).
“In this modern era of rapidly developing artificial intelligence, personalized cancer care and data-informed decision-making, Mohamed blends a unique combination of entrepreneurial mindset and analytical skills with wonderful bedside clinical skills,” said Eric G. Neilson, MD, vice president for medical affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean. “There is no one better suited to advance the field of Radiation Oncology while improving our understanding of cancer and training the next generation of clinicians and physician-scientists.”
Abazeed received his Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Chemistry degrees from the University of Michigan, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship. From there, Abazeed was named a B. Leonard Holman Fellow at The Broad Institute and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where he also completed his residency and fellowship in Radiation Oncology at Harvard. He then served as assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, where he also completed a Healthcare in Leadership Program before joining the faculty at Northwestern in 2020.
“I am confident Mohamed will lead the department to its next great era, and I’d like to thank James Carr, MD, chair of the Department of Radiology, for leading a successful search,” Neilson said. “I also want to express my gratitude for Bharat Mittal’s leadership of the department for more than 30 years. We are fortunate to have an exceptional legacy of scientific research and education from which to build upon.”
