Meet the Researcher

These researchers dedicate their careers to finding new treatments and cures for people with cancer.

Roy Herbst
Dr. Roy S. Herbst: 1997 YIA, 1999 CDA
Dr. Herbst led the first trials to test new treatments for lung cancer. His research showed that a drug called simertinib can help people with certain lung cancers live longer. He and his team also studied how the body's immune system fights cancer, and they tried new drugs to help. Their work led to the FDA approving many new treatments for lung cancer.

Dr. Herbst is well-known for his groundbreaking work in personalized therapies for non-small cell lung cancer. He's currently the deputy director at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, as well as the chief of medical oncology and assistant dean for translational research at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Herbst shared his research at the ASCO Annual Meeting Plenary Sessions in 2020 and 2023, where scientists present important findings. He credits an award from Conquer Cancer for helping him get started on this path.

Back when he was a fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dr. Herbst received a Young Investigator Award (YIA) in 1997. This grant gave him some money to do his own research. He focused on studying angiogenesis inhibition in lung cancer, working with other experts like Dr. Judah Folkman and Dr. Beverly A. Teicher.

Later, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, he got a Career Development Award (CDA) in 1999. This grant helped him continue his research with a clinical trial. Dr. Herbst then went on to secure more funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and the NIH, collaborating with Dr. Waun Ki Hong.

Over the years, Dr. Herbst led important trials that improved treatments for lung cancer. His work on the ADAURA trial showed that a drug called simertinib could increase survival for patients with certain types of lung cancer. He also played a key role in studying the PD-1/PD-L1 adaptive immune response and testing new drugs like atezolizumab and pembrolizumab. His research led to the approval of several therapies by the FDA.

Dr. Herbst's work on umbrella trials and the PRAGMATIC trials has also advanced the field of lung cancer targeted therapy. These trials test multiple drugs at once to find the best treatments for patients with different genetic changes in their cancer cells.