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Our 19 clinical divisions and programs deliver compassionate care informed by the most advanced standards of care and multidisciplinary research.
The department's three research divisions oversee more than 70 independent laboratories.
Department members lead fellowship and training programs, Harvard Medical School clerkships and courses, and professional tutorials.
With more than 240 faculty members, the Department of Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber spans:
The department provides a framework in which basic scientists, translational researchers, clinical investigators, and clinicians can pool their efforts as a team to make significant advances in understanding the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of different cancers, and on designing novel therapies for cancer.
The synergy among basic investigation, clinical research, translational development, and cancer care is a fundamental characteristic of the department – connecting basic research to significant clinical challenges, and allowing clinical observation to inform the work at the lab bench.
The Department of Medical Oncology recruits disease-oriented researchers who can conduct outstanding basic or clinical research as well as participate in the clinical activities of a particular clinical center. As a result, there is substantial expertise within the department for specific cancers and oncogenes, as well as for interdisciplinary areas such as molecular and cellular oncology, precision cancer medicine, early drug development, immuno-oncology, population sciences and genetics, and research and clinical informatics.
The clinical division concept provides a structure within which clinicians, clinical scientists, and basic investigators can collaborate to study a single disease. However, the evolving and revolutionary changes in our understanding of the genetic drivers of cancer compels our department to build bridges across disease divisions.
Most of our department members engage in more than one mission area. Nearly all laboratory-based principal investigators also see patients in a clinical division – many also attend on inpatient services. And most clinical investigators have ties to one or more basic research laboratories or disease programs within Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC). The clinician-scientist model results in increased academic productivity for Medical Oncology.
All of our faculty collaborate with external institutions and serve on national and international oncology committees and steering groups. Our members actively contribute service and leadership, providing an open two-way conduit for expertise that benefits the institute and the broader oncology and health care communities. The desire to improve care for real patients motivates our faculty to expand boundaries and mold healthcare policy, reaching outward to optimize healthcare standards locally and nationally.
The department's plans for the future include clinical and research initiatives such as:
Medical Oncology at Dana-FarberTrace the remarkable growth and development of medical oncology at Dana-Farber – from its early roots to today’s mission-driven commitment to excellence in research, care, collaboration, and training.
View the Department of Medical Oncology's 2021 Annual Report
Clinical activities span 19 clinical divisions and programs focused on specific types of malignancy or multidisciplinary approaches to oncology medicine.
Our more than 70 independent laboratories have interests ranging from basic mechanisms of cell transformation to outcomes analysis of cancer interventions of all types.
The department coordinates hematology and oncology fellowships at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber, and Massachusetts General Hospital, and offers clerkships in hematology/oncology at Harvard Medical School.
To learn more about the many ways you can support Dana-Farber's research initiatives with a philanthropic gift, please contact Rebecca Shortle at 617-632-4215 or rebecca_shortle@dfci.harvard.edu.
