Larry W. Kwak, M.D., Ph.D.
- Lymphoma
- Immunology
- Cancer Vaccines
- Vice President and Deputy Director, Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Director, Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center
- Professor, Division of Leukemia, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Larry W. Kwak, M.D., Ph.D., is a world-renowned physician and scientist who has pioneered breakthrough innovations in immunology and cancer vaccines. He joined City of Hope in April 2015, following a decade of leadership in lymphoma and myeloma research and treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Named one of TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2010, Dr. Kwak is the deputy director of City of Hope's comprehensive cancer center, director of the Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center within the Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute and is endowed with the title of the Dr. Michael Friedman Professor in Translational Medicine.
Passionate about harnessing the body's immune system to battle cancer, Dr. Kwak's interest in the field was sparked by a high school mentor and has continued for nearly three decades. He takes special pride in his ability to rapidly translate basic research into human clinical trials, making him an ideal fit for the City of Hope environment.
Location
Duarte Cancer Center
Duarte, CA 91010
Education & Experience
1989 - American Board of Internal Medicine, Subspecialty Medical Oncology
1987 - American Board of Internal Medicine
1984 – Ph.D., Tumor Cell Biology, Northwestern University Graduate School, Evanston, IL
1982 – B.S., M.D., Honors Program, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL
1979 – B.S., Medical Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
1987 – 1991, Fellow, Medical Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
1983 – 1984, Fellow, Tumor Cell Biology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL
1985 – 1987, Resident, Internal Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA
1984 – 1985, Intern, Internal Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA
Awards & Memberships
Awards
2020, Elected to American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
2016, Ho-Am Prize in Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
2016, Elected to Association of American Physicians
2011, Chang-Yul Oh Memorial Award, Korean American Medical Association
2010, TIME 100 (Named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world)
2010, Team Science Award recipient, International Society for the Biological Therapy of Cancer
2003, NCI Technology Transfer Award, Center for Cancer Research
2003, Elected to American Society for Clinical Investigation
2002, European Academy of Sciences
2000, Asian and Pacific Islander-American Organization Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award, National Institutes of Health
1989, Young Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology
1984, Physicians Research Training Fellowship, American Cancer Society, New York
1983, Lady Tata Memorial Trust Postgraduate Award, London, England
Memberships
2012 - Education Committee, American Association for Cancer Research, Chicago, IL
2012 – present, Trust Committee, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Milwaukee, WI
2007 – present, Panel of Scientific Advisors, Lymphoma Research Foundation, USA