Mary (Nora) Disis

Mary (Nora) Disis, MD is Professor of Medicine (Oncology) at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Associate Dean for Translational Science, and founder and director of the UW Medicine Cancer Vaccine Institute. She is one of the world's pioneers in cancer immunoprevention — the concept that therapeutic vaccination can stimulate immune surveillance to prevent cancer development or progression, particularly in premalignant or minimal residual disease settings. Her most celebrated work has focused on HER2-directed vaccines in breast cancer, demonstrating that patients with HER2-overexpressing early-stage breast cancer and DCIS can mount robust CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell immune responses to HER2 antigens following vaccination, and that these responses associate with reduced tumor burden and improved outcomes. Dr. Disis has advanced a compelling scientific framework for using therapeutic vaccination to prevent the progression of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive breast cancer — one of the most important unmet needs in breast cancer prevention. She has designed and led multiple Phase I/II clinical trials of HER2 peptide and protein vaccines in early breast cancer, DCIS, and high-risk settings, and has pioneered combination approaches pairing cancer vaccines with immune checkpoint inhibitors to enhance preventive immunity. Her Cancer Vaccine Institute has trained more than 100 cancer immunology researchers and serves as a national resource for cancer vaccine development.