Alum Prof. Zev Wainberg appointed as Affiliated Faculty Member at School of Medicine!

Prof. Zev Wainberg appointed as Affiliated Faculty Member at the Department of Oncology at the School of Medicine!

Prof. Zev Wainberg holds the Estelle, Abe and Marjorie Sanders Cancer Research Chair at UCLA, an endowed chair dedicated to clinical cancer research. He performed his B.A. and M.Sc. at McGill University and his MD at Tel Aviv University, graduating in 2000. He is Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Medicine and Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Prof. Wainberg is one of the most productive clinical trial investigators in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, while developing an extremely active and productive program in early phase studies of new novel molecules offering hope and value to all patients with advanced cancer. His work has led to the expansion of the clinical trial infrastructure, and he currently leads a team of nearly 20 individuals including research coordinators, data managers and research associates to help achieve and expand the goals of the program. Prof. Wainberg serves as a mentor for investigators in the National Pancreas Foundation and is sought after by both national and international trainees seeking to learn about drug development in gastrointestinal oncology and who have elected to come to UCLA for the opportunity to be mentored by him. Prof. Wainberg is the Director of the Esophago-Gastric Committee at the SWOG cooperative group and a member of the NCI Esophago-Gastric cancer task force, which are tasked with developing and accelerating novel clinical trials through the SWOG network. across the SWOG network submit their concepts to the SWOG steering committee for approval. He has led the international approval of immunotherapy in stomach cancer, one of the leading cancers in the world. His leadership of the development of pembrolizumab started in 2017 and in an expanded FDA approval in 2023 and he led the clinical development of a novel regimen called NALIRIFOX, which led to one of the few improvements in overall survival in pancreatic cancer that has been demonstrated in any clinical trials. Prof. Wainberg is the recipient of several NCI R01 grants that focus on tumor micro-environmental changes in pancreas cancer.