Dr. Abou-Alfa leads liver and bile-duct cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and serves as Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, roles that allow him to translate laboratory signals into first-in-human trials for patients who often exhaust conventional options. His academic path, beginning at the American University of Beirut and extending through residency at Yale–New Haven Hospital and fellowship at MSK, fostered dual expertise in molecular therapeutics and pragmatic clinical design. Today he collaborates with basic scientists to interrogate oncogenic drivers and with biostatisticians to power multinational studies, an approach that has delivered several practice-changing regimens.
Pivotal investigations under his direction established sorafenib, cabozantinib, ramucirumab, and, most recently, tremelimumab–durvalumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma; each trial demonstrated meaningful survival benefit and shifted global guidelines toward combination systemic therapy. Parallel liquid-biopsy projects map clonal evolution under drug pressure, revealing resistance mechanisms that inform adaptive sequencing in current phase II protocols. As chair of the National Cancer Institute Hepatobiliary Task Force he advocates biomarker-driven eligibility criteria and equitable access for populations disproportionately affected by viral hepatitis and steatohepatitis, ensuring that innovation reaches communities historically under-represented in research.
Deeply committed to education, Dr. Abou-Alfa chairs Best-of-ASCO programs across the Middle East and mentors early-career investigators through the International Liver Cancer Association, where he also serves on the executive board. His outreach earned the National Order of the Cedar from Lebanon and the Blue Faery Award for Excellence in Liver Cancer Research, honors that recognize scientific rigor aligned with patient advocacy. Colleagues cite his ability to distill complex datasets into patient-centered recommendations, while trainees emulate his measured communication when navigating prognostic uncertainty. Beyond science he completed an MBA at Columbia University, leveraging management skills to streamline trial activation and to build multidisciplinary pathways that integrate hepatology, interventional radiology, and transplant surgery around each individual.
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