Nora Disis

Mary L. (Nora) Disis, M.D., is the Athena Distinguished Professor of Breast Cancer Research, Associate Dean for Translational Health Sciences in the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Pathology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at UW and a Member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She directs the Institute of Translational Health Science at UW as well as the UW Cancer Vaccine Institute. Dr. Disis is an expert in immunoncology and in breast and ovarian cancer immunology and translational research. She is one of the pioneering investigators who discovered that HER-2/neu is a tumor antigen. Her work has led to several clinical trials which evaluate boosting immunity to HER-2/neu with cancer vaccines. Her research interest is in the discovery of new molecular immunologic targets in solid tumors for the development of vaccine and cellular therapy for the treatment and prevention of common malignancies. In addition, her group evaluates the use of the immune system to aid in the diagnosis of cancer and develops novel assays and approaches to quantitate and characterize human immunity. She holds several patents in the field of targeted cancer immunotherapy and immune-based diagnostics. Dr. Disis is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Disis holds a leadership award from the Komen for the Cure Foundation and is a named American Cancer Society Clinical Professor. She is the Editor-in-Chief of JAMA Oncology.