Dr. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D. is Chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and a Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Rosenberg received his B.A. and M.D. degree at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and a Ph.D. in Biophysics at Harvard University. After completing his residency training in surgery in 1974 at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts Dr. Rosenberg became the Chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute, a position he has held to the present time.

Dr. Rosenberg has pioneered the development of immunotherapy that has resulted in the first effective immunotherapies for selected patients with advanced cancer. He has also pioneered the development of gene therapy and was the first to successfully insert foreign genes into humans and to conduct clinical studies of the gene therapy of cancer. More recently he and his group have cloned the genes encoding cancer regression antigens and have used these to develop cancer vaccines for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma. His recent studies of cell transfer therapies have resulted in cancer regressions in patients associated with the clonal repopulation of lymphocytes with anti-tumor reactivity.

Dr. Rosenberg has been the recipient of numerous awards. He received the Meritorious Service Medal for the U.S. Public Health Service in 1981 and again in 1986 “For unsurpassed excellence and leadership in basic research and clinical investigation relating to the cellular biology and immunology in cancer and its treatment”, the Friedrich Sasse Prize from the University of West Berlin, Germany in 1986, the Nils Alwell Prize from Stockholm, Sweden in 1987, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from The Johns Hopkins University in 1987, the Simon M. Shubitz Prize from the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center in 1988, The Griffuel Prize for Research from the French Association for Research on Cancer in 1988 and the Milken Family Foundation Cancer Award in 1988. Dr. Rosenberg twice received the Armand Hammer Cancer Prize “for pioneering work in cancer research” in 1985 and 1988. In 1991, he received the Karnofsky Prize, the highest honor given by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In 1998, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He received the John Wayne Award for Clinical Research from the Society of Clinical Oncology in 1996, the Heath Memorial Award from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2002, the Flance-Karl Award, the highest honor accorded by the American Surgical Association in 2002 for “innumerable contributions to the service of clinical surgery” and in 2003 he received the annual prize for scientific excellence in medicine from the American-Italian Cancer Foundation. In 2005 he received the Richard V. Smalley, MD, Memorial Award, the highest honor given by the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer.

Dr. Rosenberg is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and served on its Board of directors. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the Society of University Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the American Association of Immunologists among others. Dr. Rosenberg is the author of over 820 articles in the scientific literature covering various aspects of cancer research and has authored 8 books.

A study published by the Institute for Scientific Information in May, 1999 revealed that Dr. Rosenberg was the most cited clinician in the world in the field of oncology for the 17 years between 1981 to 1998.