Timothy Yap

Dr. Yap is a Medical Oncologist and Physician-Scientist based at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and an Associate Professor in the Departments for Investigational Cancer Therapeutics and Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology. He also serves as the Medical Director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science and Associate Director of Translational Research in the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy. In 2005, Dr. Yap joined the Royal Marsden Hospital where he undertook a Clinical Fellowship in the Phase I Drug Development Unit, before completing a Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology in the Division of Cancer Therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, UK, under a Cancer Research UK Fellowship.

Dr. Yap’s main research focuses on the first-in-human and combinatorial development of molecularly targeted agents and immunotherapies, and their acceleration through clinical studies using novel predictive and pharmacodynamic biomarkers. His main interests include the targeting of the DNA damage response with novel therapeutics, such as ATR and PARP inhibitors, as well as the development of novel immunotherapeutics. His laboratory interests include the development of tumors, circulating plasma DNA and circulating tumor cells as predictive biomarkers of response for novel targeted agents and immunotherapies in clinical trials.

Dr. Yap gained his BSc degree with First Class Honors in Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, UK, and was awarded the Huggett Memorial Prize. He went on to attain a medical degree from Imperial College London, UK, before completing general medical training in Oxford, UK. His Ph.D. laboratory research focused on the preclinical and clinical development of AKT and ROCK inhibitors, and the development of associated biomarkers. Dr. Yap completed his Medical Oncology Fellowship at the Royal Marsden Hospital and was awarded a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lectureship in Medical Oncology. He was subsequently appointed as Consultant Medical Oncologist and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Clinician Scientist jointly in the Phase I Drug Development Unit, Lung Cancer Unit and Cancer Biomarkers Laboratory at the Royal Marsden Hospital and the ICR.