Everett Vokes, MD

Everett E. Vokes, MD, is an internationally renowned expert in the treatment of head and neck and lung cancer. Born in New York City, Dr. Vokes was educated in West Germany, receiving his medical degree from the University of Bonn Medical School. He served his residency in internal medicine at Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center in Chicago and at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He arrived at the University of Chicago as a hematology/oncology fellow in 1983 and was promoted to professor in 1995. For eleven years he served as chief of the Section of Hematology/Oncology, before his appointment as chair of the Department of Medicine in March 2009. In October 2009, Dr. Vokes was named interim dean of the Division of Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine and interim vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago. He served in these roles for one year.

Dr. Vokes has spent a highly visible career in clinical and translational research involving head and neck and lung cancer, the interaction of chemotherapy and radiation, and lung cancer. His work has shown that intense treatment combining radiation and chemotherapy can bring locally advanced head and neck cancer under control and improve survival. His research in lung cancer is directed at identifying new active therapeutic agents, as well as the interaction of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

In recognition of his outstanding work, Dr. Vokes has received many awards and has led many professional groups in the field of hematology/oncology. In 2008, he was one of two recipients of the new Translational Research Professorship from the American Society of Clinical Oncology and is a recipient of a Francis L. Lederer Foundation grant for research on the malignancies of the upper aerodigestive tract. Dr. Vokes was the principal investigator of the University of Chicago’s NCI funded Phase II network from 1994-2009, and has served as chair of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALBG) Respiratory Committee since 2004. Dr. Vokes is an elected member of the prestigious American Society of Clinical Investigation and American Association of Professors (AAP). In 2013, Dr. Vokes was named "Giant of Cancer Care" by Cancer Trade Publisher.

Dr. Vokes is widely published with over 450 papers and 80 book chapters. He has served on numerous advisory committees and review panels and has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology,Annals of Oncology, Clinical Lung Cancer, and Investigational New Drugs.