Mary L. (Nora) Disis, M.D.

Mary L. (Nora) Disis, M.D., is the Athena Distinguished Professor of Breast Cancer Research and Associate Dean for Translational Health Sciences in the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine. She is a Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Pathology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at UW, and a Member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC). She is also an American Cancer Society Clinical Professor and a Komen Scholar. In addition to directing work in the Tumor Vaccine Group, Dr. Disis is the Director of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences and the Director for the Center for Translational Medicine in Women’s Health at the UW.

Dr. Disis is an expert in breast and ovarian cancer immunology and translational research. She is one of the pioneering investigators who discovered that HER-2/neu is a tumor antigen. Her work has led to several clinical trials which evaluate boosting immunity to HER-2/neu with cancer vaccines. Her research interest is in the discovery of new molecular immunologic targets in solid tumors for the development of vaccine and cellular therapy for the treatment and prevention of common malignancies. Dr. Disis is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and the American Society of Clinical Investigation. She is also the Editor-in-Chief for JAMA Oncology, and is a member of several committees and task forces for both the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Dr. Disis received her M.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical School and completed a residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago and her fellowship in oncology at UW/FHCRC.