Ezra Cohen, MD, FRCPSC, FASCO

Ezra Cohen, MD, is a medical oncologist and an internationally recognized cancer researcher. He cares for patients with all types of head and neck cancers, including esophageal, thyroid and salivary gland cancers.

As a physician-scientist, Dr. Cohen also leads a laboratory that studies novel cancer treatments, including immunotherapy, and has made major contributions in understanding how targeted cancer therapies work. Much of his work has focused on squamous cell carcinomas and cancers of the thyroid, salivary gland, and HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers. He is especially interested in understanding mechanisms of sensitivity or resistance; cancer screening; and using medication and other agents to delay or prevent cancer (chemoprevention).

His recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded work in the study of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors in head and neck cancer has contributed to the understanding of the biology of this critical signaling network, integration of these agents into standard of care, and definition of mechanisms to overcome resistance. He recently served as chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Head and Neck Cancer Steering Committee, which oversees NCI-funded clinical research in this disease.

Dr. Cohen recently served as editor-in-chief of Oral Oncology, the most respected specialty journal in head and neck cancer, and recently chaired two Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposia -the largest international meeting of its kind - sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Head and Neck Society.

A frequent speaker at national and international meetings, he has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed papers and has been the principal investigator of multiple clinical trials of new drugs for head and neck cancer and other solid tumors in all phases of development. In addition, he has served as a grant reviewer for the NIH, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health in 2014, Dr. Cohen was co-director of the Head and Neck Cancer Program at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. A dedicated educator, Dr. Cohen also mentored and developed young faculty in his program.

Dr. Cohen completed a hematology/oncology fellowship at the University of Chicago, where he was named chief fellow. He completed residencies in family medicine at the University of Toronto and in internal medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Cohen earned his medical degree at University of Toronto. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPSC) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO).

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For more information see Moores Cancer Center, Head and Neck Cancers, Precision Immunotherapy Clinic and Thyroid Cancer Program.