Northwestern Physician-Scientist Named to National Cancer Advisory Board

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Amy Heimberger, MD, named by President Biden to prestigious position

Amy Heimberger, MD, has been named by President Biden to the National Cancer Advisory Board, which plays an important role in setting the course for the nation’s cancer research programs.

Northwestern Medicine physician-scientist Amy Heimberger, MD, the Jean Malnati Miller Professor of Brain Tumor Research, was named by President Biden to the National Cancer Advisory Board, which plays an important role in guiding the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in setting the course for the national cancer research program. She is one of seven clinicians and researchers named to the prestigious board.

“It is an honor to be able to serve in this fashion,” Heimberger said.

“Amy Heimberger is an outstanding physician-scientist and one of the key leaders within the Lurie Cancer Center,” said Leon Platanias, MD, PhD, the Jesse, Sara, Andrew, Abigail, Benjamin and Elizabeth Lurie Professor of Oncology  amd director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. “Her selection to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board that advises the NCI director is a major and well-deserved honor. She will be a great advocate for translational cancer research in this important role.”

Heimberger is also a professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Neurological Surgery. She also is scientific director of The Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute of the Lurie Cancer Center.

Heimberger’s research focuses on immune therapeutic strategies for patients with central nervous system malignancies and tumor-mediated mechanisms of immune suppression. She has been involved in a wide variety of bench-to-bedside immune therapeutics, including those developed in her laboratory and arising from her own patents. She has expertise in the investigational new drug application process and has been the principal investigator of multiple clinical trials.