Harriet Kluger, MD

Biography

Harriet Kluger, MD, is the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Medicine in Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center. She has been on faculty at Yale since completing her medical oncology fellowship in 2002. She is an internationally recognized expert on the treatment of advanced melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. She is a Director of the Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer, a large multi-project grant from the National Cancer Institute. She engages in clinical and bench-based translational research, with a focus on developing novel therapies using murine models and human specimens. Her lab has been continuously NIH-funded, and she has published in top-tier journals. She designs clinical trials with laboratory correlates resulting from her pre-clinical work, and she has been heavily involved in early phase development of immune checkpoint regimens. She serves as the Associate Cancer Center Director for Education and Training and directs the NIH-funded Immuno-Oncology Training Program at Yale for junior faculty.

SITC Election Platform Statement

What are the two or three critical issues facing the field of cancer immunotherapy?

Despite the major advances in cancer immunotherapy, new drugs and regimens are needed for patients not responding to or progressing on currently approved therapies. Moreover, biomarkers for selecting patients for specific therapies are in their infancy and are sorely needed to limit the toxicities associated with cancer immunotherapy.

The evolving complexity and regulatory burden of clinical trials are driving the cost of drug development to levels that are unsustainable. Clinical trials can be simplified, streamlined and better designed. SITC is in an excellent position to lead the charge of cutting costs of clinical drug development.

Young basic scientists completing their PhDs are leaving academia for industry jobs. While this has certainly been productive for industry, the brain drain in academic institutions will likely hurt the field in the long run, as innovation that drives cancer immunology will require collaborations between industry and academia and not from either one alone.

What is Your Vision for SITC?

SITC is uniquely poised to truly facilitate translation of the most sophisticated science to the clinic and back, engage multidisciplinary researchers from academia, government and industry, and promote collegiality and collaboration. The vision is for the SITC community of investigators to continue to grow, enhance the ranks of junior researchers and promote inclusiveness, innovation, and scientific exploration and clinical excellence. This will be achieved by capitalizing on cutting edge scientific approaches, new technologies and powerful computational tools. Furthermore, it will require working with funding and policy agencies to promote nimble interactions between all parties engaged in developing and delivering immune therapies in the United States and worldwide. The ultimate goal is to improve and extend the lives of all patients with cancer by delivering the most effective therapies while minimizing financial and physical toxicities.

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