BCRF Congratulates Dr. Eric P. Winer on Prestigious Appointment at Yale

The longtime BCRF investigator and Scientific Advisory Board Member will lead cancer center

BCRF is thrilled to share that Dr. Eric P. Winer has been named the next director of the Yale Cancer Center and physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven—a fitting appointment for his distinguished career and contributions to cancer research.

Dr. Winer currently serves as the Thompson Chair in Breast Cancer Research, chief clinical development officer, and senior vice president for medical affairs at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also co-leader of the Breast Program at DFCI/Harvard Cancer Center and president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

A BCRF-supported investigator since 2003, Dr. Winer currently serves on the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board and on the steering committee of the BCRF-supported Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium. In 2019, the Foundation honored Dr. Winer with its highest scientific honor, the Jill Rose Award.

“Eric—one of our long-standing grantees, a member of our SAB, and a leader of our activities in fostering collaboration in international clinical trials—has achieved yet another key milestone in his illustrious career,” said BCRF Founding Scientific Director Dr. Larry Norton. “We express not only our congratulations but our anticipation of many further major contributions to our field as he assumes this prestigious new role.”

Over his distinguished career as an oncologist and breast cancer researcher, Dr. Winer has published more than 350 manuscripts and been recognized for his mentorship of other investigators in the field. For a decade, he has served as principal investigator of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center SPORE in Breast Cancer (a National Institutes of Health program) and co-chairs the National Cancer Institutes’ Breast Cancer Steering Committee that oversees the agency’s clinical trials.

Dr. Winer, an alumnus of Yale College and Yale School of Medicine, was thrilled to return to New Haven. 

“As a community, I believe we can become a premier cancer center in the next five years,” he shared in a statement. “I look forward to building upon the strong clinical and research programs already in place and to enhance collaborations between laboratory and clinical investigators.”

The BCRF family sends its sincerest congratulations to Dr. Winer in his new role. 

“We are thrilled for Eric and this outstanding opportunity and look forward to working with Eric to continue to drive meaningful impact and improve outcomes through BCRF-supported research,” said BCRF Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Dorraya El-Ashry.