Keith T. Flaherty – Candidate for President Elect of AACR

The voting for the 2025 AACR Annual Election is now open, where members will vote for the next President-Elect, Treasurer, five Board Members, and four members of the Nominating Committee.

This year Keith T. Flaherty, MD, FAACR has been nominated as a Candidate for AACR President-Elect.

Keith T. Flaherty is a physician and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, where he currently serves as Director of Clinical Research at the MGH Cancer Center.

He is also an Associate Member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an Associate Dermatologist and Associate Physician in Medicine and Hematology/Oncology at MGH.

He previously directed COVID-19 clinical research at MGH (2020-2021) and led the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapy (2012-2018), as well as the Developmental Therapeutics Program (2009-2012) at MGH Cancer Center.

Before his current positions, he was an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and held multiple academic and clinical roles at the University of Pennsylvania, including Assistant Professor and attending physician in medical oncology.

Keith T. Flaherty’s research focuses on the treatment of melanoma, particularly in the context of metastatic disease.

His work explores the use of BRAF, MEK, and combined BRAF/MEK inhibition in patients with advanced melanoma, aiming to improve therapeutic outcomes. A key area of his research is identifying and understanding the mechanisms of both de novo and acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor therapy.

He is also focused on clinically evaluating next-generation MAP kinase inhibitors, as well as novel approaches involving metabolism and epigenetic modifiers, with the goal of overcoming therapeutic resistance and improving treatment efficacy for patients with melanoma.

Keith T. Flaherty has been deeply involved with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) over the years, contributing to various leadership roles and initiatives.

He was elected a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2023 and currently serves on the Fellows of the AACR Academy Nominating Committee.

He has held multiple leadership positions on the Annual Meeting Program Committee, including chair (2023-2024), vice chair (2020-2021), and cochair (2010, 2012-2013).

Dr. Flaherty has also been an active member of several AACR task forces and councils, such as the Clinical Trials Advisory Council and the Exploratory IND/Phase 0 Clinical Trials Task Force. He has contributed significantly to AACR journals, serving as editor-in-chief of Clinical Cancer Research since 2016.

Additionally, he has been involved in AACR’s educational efforts, including faculty roles in workshops on clinical trial design. His long-standing service reflects his dedication to advancing cancer research and improving clinical outcomes.

Education

Keith T. Flaherty completed his medical education at Johns Hopkins University, earning his MD in 1997. Prior to that, he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology from Yale University in 1993.

His postdoctoral training included a fellowship in medical oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2002. He also completed his residency in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he was an intern from 1997 to 1998 and a resident from 1998 to 2000.

Awards and Honors

• Member, Board of Directors, AACR (2019-2022)
• Member, Clinical Trials Awards and Advisory Committee, CRUK (2011-present)
• Recipient, Peter Fink Memorial Lectureship, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2013)
• Member, NCI Investigational Drug Steering Committee (2009-present)
• Chair, Developmental Therapeutics Committee, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) (2011-present)
• Chair, MD Anderson Moonshots Program External Advisory Committee (2016-2018)

Interviews with Keith T. Flaherty

Keith Flaherty, MD, Director of Clinical Research at Mass General Cancer Center, speaks at WMIF2023 – World Medical Innovation Forum (20th May, 2024)

How cancer evolves under immune surveillance, Peter Attia and Keith Flaherty – Peter Attia MD (26th August, 2023)

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