Brian I. Rini

Brian I. Rini, MD is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Trials Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. One of the foremost experts in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the United States, he has spent two decades advancing the understanding and treatment of kidney cancer through a succession of practice-defining clinical trials. His work has encompassed anti-angiogenic therapy, immunotherapy, and the combination strategies that now define modern first-line RCC management. Dr. Rini is widely recognized as a lead investigator of KEYNOTE-426, the landmark phase III trial demonstrating that the combination of pembrolizumab plus axitinib significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rate compared with sunitinib in previously untreated advanced clear cell RCC. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2019 and with updated outcomes subsequently reported, KEYNOTE-426 established pembrolizumab plus axitinib as one of the preferred first-line standards and represented a paradigm shift toward immunotherapy-TKI combinations in RCC. Dr. Rini also contributed pivotal research establishing sunitinib and other VEGFR TKIs as first-line standards prior to the immunotherapy era. Beyond KEYNOTE-426, Dr. Rini has led or contributed to numerous phase II and III trials exploring novel TKIs, immunotherapy combinations, and predictive biomarkers in RCC. His translational research addresses mechanisms of resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy, immune evasion in RCC, and biomarker strategies for patient selection. He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, serves on ASCO and NCCN guideline panels, and is recognized globally as a key architect of current RCC treatment paradigms.