Biography
Dr. Brahmer is the Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program and Professor of Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. She was recently appointed as Co-Leader of the Cancer Immunology Program. In addition to serving as Co-Leader of the Cancer Immunology Program, she also directs the Kimmel Cancer Center on the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus. She is co-principal investigator of the Johns Hopkins' National Clinical Trials Network and helps direct all oncology cooperative group activities on the Johns Hopkins campuses.
Dr. Brahmer is an international leader in lung cancer clinical trials research with particular expertise in drug development for thoracic malignancies and immunotherapy. Dr. Brahmer received her undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Philosophy in 1989 from the Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and went on to receive her medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Medicine in 1993. Completing her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Utah, she later became the Chief Medical Resident until moving to Baltimore to complete her fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Brahmer's research interests include leading early phase immunotherapy trials of anti-PD-1 antibodies, international phase III studies of immunotherapies in lung cancer and investigator-initiated trials evaluating combination immunotherapies. She is a co-leader of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center immunotherapy related toxicity management team and co-leads ASCO, NCCN, and SITC toxicity guideline development for these national and international organizations.
SITC Election Platform Statement
What are the two or three critical issues facing the field of cancer immunotherapy?
- With the rapid transformation of cancer therapy through the approval of checkpoint inhibitors and other novel cellular therapies, SITC must address the rising costs of care and increasing access to these therapies.
- Along with these therapies come toxicities, and SITC must help support the study and development of treatments for these toxicities that improve long-term outcomes and survivorship for all patients.
- SITC also must help address the continued need for the recruitment and retention of diverse investigators in the field of cancer immunology.
What is your vision for SITC?
My vision for SITC is to continue to be a global organization that is leading the study and application of immunotherapy in all stages of cancer therapy in order to increase the chance of cure for our patients.