Dr. Barbara Burtness

Biography

Barbara Burtness, MD, is a Professor of Medicine in Medical Oncology at Yale School of Medicine and Chief Translational Research Officer at Yale Cancer Center. She serves as Co-Leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program and Division Chief of Head Neck/Sarcoma Oncology. An internationally recognized expert in head and neck cancer, Dr. Burtness chairs the ECOG-ACRIN Cooperative Group Head Neck Cancer Therapeutics Committee and leads national and international trials in targeted therapies for head neck cancer. Her laboratory focuses on synthetic lethal therapeutic strategies targeting aurora kinase to overcome adaptive resistance in EGFR inhibition. Dr. Burtness’s research encompasses studies on targeted treatments and biomarkers of resistance in head neck cancers. She has demonstrated that loss of PTEN indicates resistance to EGFR inhibition and has explored novel dual EGFR/HDAC inhibitors for improving response rates. Her commitment to advancing cancer treatment is evident in her leadership of multicenter trials investigating innovative therapies. With numerous publications and citations, her impact on the field continues to grow, driven by a mission to enhance patient quality of life in the face of challenging diagnoses.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards