Louis M. Weiner Joins MedStar Health as Director of its MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute

Louis M. Weiner, MD

Louis M. Weiner, MD

Louis M. Weiner, MD, has been selected by MedStar Health to be director of its MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute, leading development and coordination of clinical care and research across the MedStar Health system. He will manage programs focusing on prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship, and end-of-life care.

Weiner will also continue on as director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, forming an integration between clinical care and a robust research platform with both institutions. This comes as a result of an agreement between Georgetown University and MedStar Health to continue and enhance their collaborations.

“Weiner is uniquely qualified to lead this effort with expertise as a clinician, clinical researcher, laboratory scientist, director of a large research operation and experience in service delivery,” said M. Joy Drass, MD, executive vice president and chief operating officer of MedStar Health.

Weiner is an internationally renowned medical oncologist with a specialty in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. He is recognized for his laboratory and clinical research focusing on new therapeutic approaches that mobilize the patient’s immune system to fight cancer using monoclonal antibodies.

Weiner is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has published more than 150 scientific papers and frequently lectures on targeted therapies for cancer.

Currently serving as chair of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Board of Scientific Counselors, Weiner is also a member of NCI’s Clinical Trials Advisory Committee and has recently concluded services as a member of the Advisory Panel of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Research, which administers NIH research grants. Additionally, he is chair of the Immunology Task Force of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), and course director for the annual AACR/ASCO Clinical Methods Workshop.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this effort. This is an exciting time for the field of cancer therapy, as new treatments are transforming the outlook for patients with this dreaded set of diseases,” said Weiner. “The Institute’s alignment with the Georgetown Lombardi, one of the nation’s National Center Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, assures that our patients will always receive tomorrow’s treatments today.”

Weiner received his bachelor’s degree in biology with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicineat New York University. He completed his internship, residency, and service as chief medical resident at the University of Vermont’s Medical Center Hospital. After completing his fellowship in hematology and oncology at Tufts University School of Medicine, Weiner held several leadership positions at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia before being joining Georgetown Lombardi as director in 2007.