Oncologist Near Me – Wafik S. El-Deiry: A Global Leader in Translational Oncology and Cancer Research

Welcome to OncoDaily‘s special section “Oncologist Near Me,” where we introduce prominent oncologists from around the world.

Here, you can get to know the leading cancer specialists in your area, including both personal and professional details that you won’t find in their research articles.

Interested solely in research? We’ve got that covered too! Discover top research articles by the author, learn about their academic achievements, awards, and honors, watch their interviews, and memorize some quotes for much-needed inspiration!

Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP

Dr. Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, is a world-renowned medical oncologist and researcher specializing in colorectal cancer. He is an American Cancer Society Research Professor, Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School, and Director of the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University.

Dr. El-Deiry serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Target Oncology and is a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors. He is known for discovering p21(WAF1) as a p53 target gene, the TRAIL receptor DR5 as a p53 target, and ONC201/TIC10 as a TRAIL pathway.

Early Life and Education

Dr. Wafik S. El-Deiry pursued his undergraduate education at the University of Miami, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry between 1978 and 1981. He then continued his studies at the University of Miami School of Medicine, where he obtained both his M.D. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry between 1981 and 1987.

Following his medical and doctoral training, Dr. El-Deiry completed his postgraduate training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He served as an Osler Intern in the Department of Medicine from 1987 to 1988, followed by a residency as a Junior and Senior Assistant Resident in Medicine from 1988 to 1990. From 1990 to 1994, he was a Senior Clinical Fellow in Medical Oncology at The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. Concurrently, between 1991 and 1994, he conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Bert Vogelstein at The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, further advancing his expertise in oncology and cancer research.

Career

Dr. Wafik S. El-Deiry currently serves as the Director of the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University, a role he has held since 2021, and Director of the Cancer Center at Brown University since 2020. He is also the Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He is also a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (2024).

Since joining Brown University in 2019, Dr. El-Deiry has held multiple key roles, including Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Professor of Medical Science at the Brown Institute for Translational Science, Clinical Oncologist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, and Mencoff Family University Professor of Medical Science. He also leads the Joint Program in Cancer Biology at Brown Institute for Translational Science and Lifespan Cancer Institute and directs the Laboratory of Translational Oncology and Experimental Cancer Therapeutics at Brown University.

Before his tenure at Brown, he was a Professor of Medical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center (2014-2018) and served as Deputy Director for Translational Research while co-leading the Molecular Therapeutics Program. He also held the William Wikoff Smith Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Fox Chase.

Dr. El-Deiry previously spent significant time at Penn State University, where he was Division Chief of Hematology/Oncology (2010-2014), Rose Dunlap Division Chair in Hematology/Oncology, and Associate Director for Translational Research at the Penn State Cancer Institute. Earlier, at the University of Pennsylvania (1994-2010), he was a Professor of Medicine, Genetics, and Pharmacology, leading the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Cell Cycle Regulation. He was also a long-time investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1995-2004).

He has been actively involved in various prestigious scientific and professional societies throughout his career. Dr. El-Deiry is a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors and Chair of the WIN Consortium in Cancer Personalized Medicine. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (since 1997) and the American Association for Cancer Research (since 1995). Additionally, he was President of the Interurban Clinical Club (2013-2014), a society founded by Sir William Osler.

Research

Dr. Wafik El-Deiry’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of therapy resistance in cancer, with major efforts dedicated to drug discovery and development.

Dr. Wafik El-Deiry directs a basic science laboratory focused on the p53 pathway, cell death, drug resistance, and novel cancer therapeutics. His research has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of tumor suppression and therapy resistance, with a strong emphasis on developing targeted treatments to overcome these challenges.

He discovered the p21 (WAF1) cell cycle inhibitor as a p53 target gene and a key mediator of p53-dependent tumor suppression, a landmark finding that became one of the most highly cited original research papers published in Cell. Since the early 1990s, his work has unraveled critical signaling mechanisms in the p53 pathway, shaping the understanding of tumor suppression and therapeutic response/resistance in cancer.

A major breakthrough in his research was the cloning of the TRAIL death receptor DR5, published in Nature Genetics (1997), which revealed its regulation by p53 and its role in TRAIL-mediated cell death. His laboratory has extensively studied TRAIL signaling, identifying synergistic therapeutic combinations, including the mechanistic basis for the synergy between TRAIL and sorafenib,  and an off-target effect of lapatinib involving death receptor signaling (Science Translational Medicine, 2011).

Since 2002, Dr. El-Deiry has focused on reversing therapy resistance through the discovery and development of small molecules that modulate p53 signaling, including those targeting mutant p53. His team discovered ONC201/TIC10, a first-in-class small-molecule inducer of the TRAIL pathway, which has since entered clinical trials at multiple cancer centers. His research has further explored ONC201’s effects on cancer stem cells (Cancer Research, 2015), its role as an activator of a pro-apoptotic integrated stress response (Science Signaling, 2016), and its interaction with dopamine receptors (Neoplasia, 2018).

His group has also identified and characterized novel p53-restoring compounds, including NSC59984 (NCI-8), CB002, prodigiosin, and PG3-Oc.

With over 500 peer-reviewed publications, an H-index of 133, and more than 109,000 citations, Dr. El-Deiry’s contributions continue to shape the landscape of cancer biology and therapeutic innovation.

p53 is a tumor suppressor that prevents cancer by regulating cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptosis.

Awards, Honors, and Membership in Honorary Societies*

His research contributions, particularly in cancer therapeutics and molecular oncology, have earned him prestigious honors, including the title of American Cancer Society Research Professor (held for life).

• Elected to Membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1999)
• Elected Member, Interurban Clinical Club (2005)
• Elected Member, Association of American Physicians (2008)
• Rose Dunlap Division Chair in Hematology/Oncology, Penn State University (2010–2014)
• Kuwait Prize in Applied Sciences for Cancer Research ($100K International Prize, 2010)
• Elected Member, The Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars (2014)
• Scientific Research Award from the American Cancer Society in Philadelphia on November 2, 2016 (National Award)
• Associate Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Cancer Research (2021
• Brown University 2021 Inventor of the Year Award (2021, 2023)
• 2022 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)-Novocure Research Award to study Tumor Treating Fields in various tumors (2022)

*For the full list of  Wafik El-Dairy’s awards, see his CV.

Top 10 papers by Wafik El-Deiry*

1. El-Deiry WS, Tokino T, Velculescu VE, Levy DB, Parsons R, Trent JM, Lin D, Mercer WE, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B. WAF1, a potential mediator of p53 tumor suppression. Cell. 1993 Nov 19;75(4):817-25. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90500-p. PMID: 8242752.
2. El-Deiry WS, Harper JW, O’Connor PM, Velculescu VE, Canman CE, Jackman J, Pietenpol JA, Burrell M, Hill DE, Wang Y, et al. WAF1/CIP1 is induced in p53-mediated G1 arrest and apoptosis. Cancer Res. 1994 Mar 1;54(5):1169-74. PMID: 8118801.
3. El-Deiry WS, Kern SE, Pietenpol JA, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B. Definition of a consensus binding site for p53. Nat Genet. 1992 Apr;1(1):45-9. doi: 10.1038/ng0492-45. PMID: 1301998.
4. Carneiro BA, El-Deiry WS. Targeting apoptosis in cancer therapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2020 Jul;17(7):395-417. doi: 10.1038/s41571-020-0341-y. Epub 2020 Mar 23. PMID: 32203277; PMCID: PMC8211386.
5. Jin Z, El-Deiry WS. Overview of cell death signaling pathways. Cancer Biol Ther. 2005 Feb;4(2):139-63. doi: 10.4161/cbt.4.2.1508. Epub 2005 Feb 27. PMID: 15725726.
6. Wu GS, Burns TF, McDonald ER 3rd, Jiang W, Meng R, Krantz ID, Kao G, Gan DD, Zhou JY, Muschel R, Hamilton SR, Spinner NB, Markowitz S, Wu G, El-Deiry WS. KILLER/DR5 is a DNA damage-inducible p53-regulated death receptor gene. Nat Genet. 1997 Oct;17(2):141-3. doi: 10.1038/ng1097-141. PMID: 9326928.
7. El-Deiry WS. Regulation of p53 downstream genes. Semin Cancer Biol. 1998;8(5):345-57. doi: 10.1006/scbi.1998.0097. PMID: 10101800.
8. Wang S, El-Deiry WS. TRAIL and apoptosis induction by TNF-family death receptors. Oncogene. 2003 Nov 24;22(53):8628-33. doi: 10.1038/sj.onc.1207232. PMID: 14634624.
9. El-Deiry WS, Tokino T, Waldman T, Oliner JD, Velculescu VE, Burrell M, Hill DE, Healy E, Rees JL, Hamilton SR, et al. Topological control of p21WAF1/CIP1 expression in normal and neoplastic tissues. Cancer Res. 1995 Jul 1;55(13):2910-9. PMID: 7796420.
10. Somasundaram K, Zhang H, Zeng YX, Houvras Y, Peng Y, Zhang H, Wu GS, Licht JD, Weber BL, El-Deiry WS. Arrest of the cell cycle by the tumour-suppressor BRCA1 requires the CDK-inhibitor p21WAF1/CiP1. Nature. 1997 Sep 11;389(6647):187-90. doi: 10.1038/38291. PMID: 9296497.

*Most cited papers, where Wafik El-Dairy is the first or last author according to Google Scholar

Interviews and Lectures with Wafik El-Deiry

Wafik El Deiry, Smart Health – GoLocal LIVE

Cancer rates in Rhode Island – NBC 10 WJAR

By Faculty for Faculty: Professor Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP – Brown University

Wafik S El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP “Cancer Therapeutics” December 2, 2021 PLM Seminar, Brown University – Cancer Center at Brown University 

Breast cancer cells to ONC201 from anti-proliferative to apoptotic – Oncotarget 

Special Interview with Prof. Wafik S. El-Deiry – Cancer Drug Resistance

Wafik El-Deiry carted a bunch of books around the Mediterranean – The Cancer Letter 

Beyond the White Coat

He is a fan of American Football and the Olympic Games.

In addition, Professor El-Deiry maintains an active presence on social media through platforms like LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). While his posts are primarily focused on scientific content, he occasionally shares lighthearted and entertaining material. For example, he recently shared a photo on X with the caption:

“I asked Grok and ChatGPT for fun and a little bit of satire to generate an image of me having lunch with Elton John and Lady Gaga to discuss the importance of cancer research and its funding. Neither could do it, so this is my amateur attempt at it.”

Photo taken from Wafik S. El-Deiry/X

How to contact him?

Email: [email protected]
Location: Providence, RI 02912, USA

References

• Our Director: Providing leadership toward our vision – Brown University
• $25 million gift to Brown to accelerate discovery at renamed Legorreta Cancer Center – Brown University
• Renowned oncologist and cancer researcher joins Penn State Hershey – The Pennsylvania State University
• Wafik El-Deiry – Google Scholar
• Wafik S. El-Deiry – X
• Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP – LinkedIn
• Wafik S El-Deiry: Mencoff Family University Professor of Medical Science, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine – Brown University
• Cancer Biology & Therapy Editor-in-Chief, Wafik S El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, inducted into the Society of Scholars of the
• Johns Hopkins University on April 7, 2014 – Cancer Biology & Therapy
• Wafik El-Deiry – WIN Consortium
• Wafik S. El-Deiry – CV

Read the previous articles in the “Oncologist Near Me” series to explore insights into the lives and careers of leading oncologists worldwide.

We’ve curated the internet to find the most important information about them. If you have more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Written by Vahe Grigoryan