Dr. Roy S. Herbst is a distinguished leader in medical oncology and translational cancer research whose pioneering work has transformed the landscape of lung cancer treatment. He currently serves as the Ensign Professor of Medicine and Professor of Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine while holding the position of Deputy Director at Yale Cancer Center and Chief of Hematology Medical Oncology at Smilow Cancer Hospital. A Yale alumnus with both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the institution, Dr. Herbst earned his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College and his PhD in molecular cell biology from The Rockefeller University, completing his clinical training at Harvard-affiliated hospitals including Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Prior to his current appointments, he held prominent positions at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where he served as Barnhart Distinguished Professor and Chief of Thoracic Medical Oncology, establishing himself as a national authority in lung cancer therapeutics.
Dr. Herbst has pioneered groundbreaking approaches to personalized medicine and immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer, significantly improving outcomes for patients through his leadership in major clinical trials. His instrumental role in the ADAURA trial demonstrated that osimertinib dramatically increases survival rates for patients with EGFR-mutated early-stage lung cancer, leading to practice-changing treatment guidelines and FDA approval for this molecularly targeted therapy. He has made seminal contributions to understanding the PD-1/PD-L1 adaptive immune response and helped establish immunotherapies like atezolizumab and pembrolizumab as standard treatments for specific lung cancer subtypes. With over 450 publications to his name, Dr. Herbst's research has fundamentally shifted the paradigm of lung cancer treatment from a one-size-fits-all approach to precision medicine strategies based on molecular profiling and biomarker identification.
Beyond his research achievements, Dr. Herbst has profoundly influenced the field through his leadership roles in major national and international cancer organizations, currently serving on the Thoracic Malignancy Steering Committee of the National Cancer Institute and as a member of the Board of Directors for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. He has received numerous prestigious honors including the Giants of Cancer Care Award for Lung Cancer and the Paul A Bunn, Jr. MD Award for Lifetime Achievement, recognizing his transformative contributions to the field. Dr. Herbst is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of oncology researchers and clinicians, fostering multidisciplinary collaboration across institutions to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into patient care. His current research continues to focus on overcoming treatment resistance and preventing metastasis in lung cancer, with ongoing clinical trials exploring novel combination therapies and biomarker-driven treatment approaches that promise to further improve survival rates for patients worldwide.
