Michael Atkins

Dr. Atkins is an internationally recognized leader in translational and clinical research for more than 30 years, working in melanoma, kidney cancer, and cancer immunotherapy. He began his career at Tufts Medical Center before moving to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he was appointed Professor at Harvard Medical School. There, he served as leader of the Biologic Therapy and Cutaneous Oncology Programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Co-PI of the Harvard Skin Cancer SPORE, leader of the Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center Kidney Cancer Program, and Director of the Kidney Cancer SPORE.

In 2012, Dr. Atkins was named the Deputy Director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and William M. Scholl Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Oncology. His research interests include immunotherapy, anti-angiogenic therapy, molecularly targeted therapy, and predictive biomarker development most notably in melanoma and kidney cancer. He leads the Lombardi Immunotherapy Initiative and co-leads the Melanoma Disease Group within the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute. He has published more than 450 original research and review articles, as well as three books, and has lectured extensively on these topics.

He is past president of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and past member of the NCI Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee and the ASCO Nominating Committee. Dr. Atkins is Chair of the Medical Advisory Panel for the Melanoma Research Alliance, and co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee and Board member for the Melanoma Research Foundation.