Dr. Sara Pai

Biography

Sara Isabel Pai, MD, PhD, is a renowned surgical oncologist specializing in head and neck cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and thyroid parathyroid cancers/disorders. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Dartmouth College, majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, and later completed her MD/PhD program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, focusing on cancer immunology and vaccines. After completing her residency in otolaryngology-head neck surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she joined the faculty from 2007 to 2014 and then became part of the Division of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Pai’s research focuses on understanding how HPV evades the immune system and developing novel immunotherapeutic strategies for HPV-related cancer cells. She is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert in HPV-associated head and neck cancers and cancer immunotherapy, leading clinical immunotherapy trials and publishing extensively with over 120 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Pai serves as a Senior Editor for Cancer Research and has received the FDA's orphan drug designation for pembrolizumab in treating recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), a rare condition caused by HPV.

Research Interests

Experience