Mary L. “Nora” Disis, MD, is the Helen B. Slonaker Endowed Professor for Cancer Research, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington (UW), the Director and founder of the UW Medicine Cancer Vaccine Institute, and a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. She is an internationally recognized physician-scientist whose career has been devoted developing vaccines for common solid tumors.
Dr. Disis began her medical and scientific training at the University of Nebraska Medical School, where she received her MD and also pursued training in immunology. She subsequently moved to Chicago, completing her residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois. She moved to Seattle for a fellowship in medical oncology at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, beginning an association with UW and Fred Hutch that has continued throughout her career.
As an early investigator, her research helped establish HER2/neu as a tumor antigen capable of eliciting an immune response in breast cancer. That work provided a foundation for developing vaccines designed to stimulate immunity against HER2 and other proteins expressed in cancer. Over the ensuing decades, Dr. Disis built a research program that moved discoveries from the laboratory into clinical testing. What began as a focused tumor vaccine research effort grew into the multidisciplinary UW Medicine Cancer Vaccine Institute, which brings together scientists, clinicians, immunologists, and translational researchers. The Institute has developed multiple clinical-grade vaccines under FDA investigational new drug applications. Her research has expanded from breast and ovarian cancer to the identification of immunologic targets across common solid tumors and the development of vaccines and cellular therapies directed against those targets. A consistent theme throughout her career has been advancing cancer vaccines earlier in the course of disease. Her work has evolved from preventing cancer recurrence toward the possibility of vaccinating individuals at increased risk to prevent cancer from developing in the first place.
Dr. Disis has also played a major role in building the field of translational medicine. From 2007 through 2024, she served as Principal Investigator of the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences, helping create an environment in which laboratory discoveries could more efficiently develop approaches that improve human health across multiple disciplines. She holds several patents in cancer immunotherapy and immune-based diagnostics and has emphasized throughout her career the importance of bringing scientists, physicians, patients, and organizations together to translate discoveries into clinical benefit.
Her scientific and leadership contributions have received national recognition. She is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and an American Cancer Society Professor. She received the 2022 Science Advancement and Leadership Award from the Association for Women in Science, the 2024 National Award for Creative Invention from the American Chemical Society, and was the 2024 University of Washington Inventor of the Year.
Beyond her laboratory and clinical research, Dr. Disis has had a major influence on medical publishing. She is a past Deputy Editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and is currently the founding Editor in Chief of JAMA Oncology and a Deputy Editor of JAMA, roles through which she has helped shape how important advances in cancer research and medicine are communicated to physicians, scientists, patients, and the public.
Throughout her career, Dr. Disis has placed particular emphasis on mentorship, collaboration, and creating opportunities for the next generation of investigators. Her career reflects a long-term commitment to a once unconventional idea that has increasingly become achievable: the immune system can be taught not only to fight cancer, but potentially to prevent it.