Director, Center for Thoracic Cancers
Director, Targeted Immunotherapy, Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Justin Gainor is director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers at the Mass General Cancer Center and an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gainor received his BA from Johns Hopkins University and his MD from Harvard Medical School. He has been with Mass General as an intern, resident and fellow. He joined Mass General’s faculty in 2013 and is recognized for combining cutting-edge translational research with clinical care in an innovative and compassionate manner.

Dr. Gainor’s major research interests center around two themes: targeted therapy and immunotherapy. He has led multiple clinical trials evaluating novel targeted therapies for patients with oncogene-driven lung cancers. In parallel, he has played an active role in uncovering the molecular mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies in lung cancer. More recently, Dr. Gainor has worked to transfer the same clinical-translational research framework pioneered in targeted therapies to the immunotherapy setting. In 2018, he was appointed director of Targeted Immunotherapy in the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies. His current work is focused on investigating the role of novel immunotherapies and immunotherapy combinations in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. He is also leading a multi-institutional effort to identify new biomarkers of response and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Dr. Gainor is currently the co-leader of a Stand Up to Cancer/Mark Foundation Lung Cancer Dream Team. He has more than 88 original research articles or reviews that have appeared in high-impact journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Discovery, JCO Precision Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research. He currently sits on multiple editorial boards, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Clinical Lung Cancer.

Associate Director, Clinical Research, Mass General Cancer Center
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Rebecca Heist is associate director of Clinical Research at the Mass General Cancer Center and an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received her MD from Harvard Medical School and her MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her residency at Mass General and her fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her clinical practice focuses on lung cancer. Dr. Heist’s research is focused on first-in-human studies and targeted therapy in lung cancer. As part of the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies at the Mass General Cancer Center, she leads and participates in first-in-human studies of targeted agents across a broad range of tumor types, with a particular focus in lung. Her work in MET directed therapies has led to the first FDA approval of a selective MET inhibitor in NSCLC with MET exon 14 skipping. She is currently leading multiple clinical trials of KRAS G12C inhibitors and, in collaboration with translational researchers, has helped identify mechanisms of resistance to single agent therapy. In addition, she is heavily involved in clinical trial operations and has worked with the Mass General Cancer Center and DFHCC to improve the flow of first-in-human studies through the activation system, with the ultimate goal of facilitating access for patients to these critical studies.

Program Director, Cancer Early Detection and Diagnostics, Mass General Cancer Center
The Landry Family Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Sequist is originally from Michigan. She attended Cornell University and Harvard Medical School, and then settled in Boston. She completed her clinical training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital. During training she also earned a Master’s in Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. She joined the faculty at the MGH Cancer Center in 2005 and is currently the Landry Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Director of the Center for Innovation in Early Cancer Detection at Massachusetts General Hospital and the leader of the Cancer Risk, Prevention and Early Detection Program at the joint Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. She sits on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Lung Cancer, the Thoracic Malignancy Steering Committee for the NCI, and the Scientific Board of Directors for LUNGevity Foundation. Dr. Sequist’s research focuses on studying targeted therapeutics for lung cancer and novel technologies and approaches to lung cancer screening. She is passionate about Health Equity. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her husband, two sons and two dogs, read and paint.

Director, Thoracic Radiation Oncology Program
Director, Radiation Biology & Research Program
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Willers obtained his M.D. from the University of Hamburg Medical School in Germany in 1994. After two years of residency training in radiation oncology in Germany, he came to Boston to work as a research fellow on DNA repair in the laboratory of Simon Powell, M.D., Ph.D.. He then completed his residency training in radiation oncology at the MGH in 2005. Following three years as an attending physician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Boston Medical Center, he returned to the MGH to join the Thoracic Radiation Oncology Program in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Willers has a busy clinical practice focusing on the care of patient with thoracic cancers of various types while also spending time in the laboratory. He is active in clinical, physics, and biology research with the overarching goal of advancing precision radiation medicine, which combines the latest in biological therapies with high-precision radiation therapy to increase the likelihood of cure without complications in patients with lung cancer.

Thoracic Surgeon, Mass General Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang is a thoracic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. He received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Harvard College and his medical degree at Harvard Medical School. He completed his general surgery residency at Duke and cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Stanford.

Dr. Yang practices all aspects of thoracic surgery, including procedures for conditions of the lung and mediastinum. He specializes in minimally invasive techniques. Dr. Yang has received numerous awards, including recognition for exceptional accomplishment in both clinical care and in teaching. In 2021, he received the Harvard Medical School Charles McCabe Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr. Yang performs clinical research and is co-principal investigator and project leader of a NIH R01-funded study evaluating postoperative complications and recovery in cardiothoracic patients. He also serves as Vice Chair of the Alliance Thoracic Surgery Group. Dr. Yang has been the lead or senior author on several high impact papers published in the British Medical Journal, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Annals of Surgery, and Chest. He has written over 120 publications, including over 60 as first-, co-first or senior author. Dr. Yang is an editorial board member of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Journal of Thoracic Diseases, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Online Curriculum. He is also an associate editor for Pearson’s General Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Yang is focused on raising awareness of lung cancer screening. He started the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which has worked with communities across 50 states to highlight the importance of lung screening. Since 2020, he has worked on resolutions, S. Res. 780, 426 and 863 to raise awareness for lung cancer and lung cancer screening; these resolutions were passed in the U.S. Senate, by unanimous support from all 100 U.S. Senators. In 2021, he received the Harvard Medical School Dean’s Community Service Faculty Award in recognition of his efforts.

When Dr. Yang is not at Mass General, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Phoebe, two daughters and his dog.