George D. Demetri

George Demetri, MD, FASCO has dedicated his career to translational research aimed at understanding and treating precisely-defined subsets of cancers. He was a pioneer in the development of imatinib (Gleevec®), the first cancer therapy targeting gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) as a molecularly defined subset of sarcoma. Subsequently, his work has contributed to the U.S. FDA and worldwide regulatory approvals of several other “smart drugs” for cancer, including sunitinib (Sutent®) and regorafenib (Stivarga®) for GIST, tazemetostat (Tazverik®) for epithelioid sarcomas, as well as pazopanib (Votrient®) and trabectedin (Yondelis®) for other sarcomas. In a related contribution, Dr. Demetri served on the Scientific Advisory Board for Plexxikon to help develop the first mutant BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib (Zelboraf®), a mutation-targeted therapy for a subset of melanomas. Most recently, he helped starting Blueprint Medicines in Cambridge, MA, which recently announced the U.S. FDA approval of avapritinib (Ayvakit®) for a mutationally-defined subset of GIST.

He received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard College, then was a research fellow at the Universite of Besancon, France before receiving his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. Subsequently, he completed his residency and became Chief Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle before training as a fellow in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, where he has served as an Attending Physician since 1989.

Dr. Demetri is a Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School (HMS), where he is co-Director of the Ludwig Center at Harvard and a co-director of the HMS post-graduate course entitled “High Impact Cancer Research: Cancer Biology and Therapeutics”. He also teaches a Harvard College Freshman Seminar on the Scientific, Ethical and Humanistic Aspects of Cancer. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and now chairs the AACR Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee. Dr. Demetri was a founding director of the annual AACR special workshop on Translational Cancer Research for the Basic Scientist. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Blueprint Medicines and Translate Bio, both in Cambridge Massachusetts.