Dr. Mark G. Kris - Thoracic Medical Oncology

Dr. Kris heads MSK’s Thoracic Medical Oncology Service, a post he has held for more than two decades, and is the inaugural William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology, reflecting sustained institutional and philanthropic trust in his leadership. He also holds a full professorship at Weill Cornell Medicine, where he has taught medical students and fellows since 1996, integrating bedside insights with curriculum on molecular therapeutics. His academic path began with an MD from Cornell University Medical College, followed by internal-medicine residency at New York Hospital – Cornell and a medical-oncology fellowship at MSK, appointments that cemented a careerlong link to the institution he now helps govern. In 2011 the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) honored him with its first Humanitarian Award for spearheading global access to evidence-based anti-emetic protocols, an accolade that underscored his equal commitment to symptom control and survival extension. Today his multi-disciplinary team meets twice weekly to synthesize radiology, multiplex genomic data, and patient priorities into individualized treatment road-maps, ensuring that scientific discovery translates to personal benefit.

 

Scientifically, Dr. Kris is best known for co-leading the 2003 New England Journal of Medicine study that linked sensitizing EGFR mutations to dramatic tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) responses, a discovery that re-charted therapy for millions of lung-cancer patients. Subsequent work through the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium broadened the actionable genotype catalog and validated multiplex testing as a frontline diagnostic tool. More recently he served on the steering committee for the ADAURA program, which demonstrated adjuvant osimertinib’s overall-survival benefit after resection of EGFR-mutated NSCLC and reset global guidelines in 2024. Beyond TKIs, his portfolio incorporates antibody–drug conjugates and KRAS G12C inhibition, each interrogated through mechanism-anchored trials that pair deep sequencing with longitudinal liquid biopsies to chart clonal evolution and emergent resistance. He also co-authors IASLC consensus documents on neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy, aligning surgical and medical advances across continents. Collectively, these initiatives demonstrate a career defined not by a single breakthrough but by a sustained pattern of translational inquiry that pulls laboratory insight into the clinic.

 

Education and advocacy occupy equal footing in Dr. Kris’s agenda. He chairs the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s Neoadjuvant Initiative, mentoring early-career investigators while harmonizing regulatory, industry, and academic priorities. At ASCO and NCCN he contributes to guideline panels that codify best practices in molecular testing, maintenance therapy, and survivorship, ensuring that even community oncologists can operationalize cutting-edge science. His public-facing outreach ranges from televised discussions on personalized medicine to bilingual workshops that coach smokers through low-dose CT screening, reflecting a belief that disease interception begins far upstream of the infusion suite. Within MSK, he directs the annual fellows’ manuscript clinic, which has boosted trainee publication rates and secured multi-year K-series funding for junior faculty—an institutional investment repaid through an expanding cadre of thoracic-oncology leaders at centers worldwide. Such cross-cutting influence, bench to bedside, classroom to Capitol Hill, defines Dr. Kris’s role as both scientist and steward of patient-centered lung-cancer care.