Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD

Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, is the Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC), Dean for Oncology in the Biological Sciences Division, and the Abbvie Foundation Distinguished Service Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago. His research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms of immune recognition and tolerance in human ovarian cancer, and translation of the findings to clinical immunotherapy trials. He has pioneered several pre-clinical and first-in-human clinical trials testing strategies to elicit antigen-specific responses and prolong remission rates in patients with ovarian cancer. His work has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Defense, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Cancer Research Institute, and the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Alliance, among others. He is a Principal Investigator of an NCI-funded Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in ovarian cancer completely focused on overcoming mechanisms by which tumors escape from immune attack. He has authored or co-authored more than 400 journal publications or book chapters. Among his numerous honors and awards are election to the United States National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in 2018, the Rosalind Franklin Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Award in 2019, Innovation award of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology in 2021, and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Society for Reproductive Investigation in 2022. He holds leadership positions in several national organizations such as Co-Chair of the NCI Cancer Moonshot Immuno-Oncology Translational Network (IOTN); and Chair of the Cancer Immunology Working Group of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). As Director of UCCC, he sets the strategic direction for the center, and emphasizes inclusive collaborative cancer research and care, cancer health equity, and expansion of opportunities for early career cancer investigators