Patrick Y. Wen

Patrick Y. Wen, MD is Director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He is one of the most widely respected leaders in neuro-oncology, known for his foundational contributions to standardizing response assessment in brain tumors, designing and leading major GBM clinical trials, and translating genomic discoveries into novel therapeutic approaches. Over more than three decades at Dana-Farber and Harvard, he has built one of the premier neuro-oncology programs in the United States. Dr. Wen is the principal architect of the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) criteria, a standardized framework for assessing tumor response in clinical trials that addresses the unique challenges of pseudoprogression and pseudoresponse in GBM. First published in 2010, the RANO criteria have been universally adopted by clinical trials worldwide and are now regarded as the gold standard for neuro-oncology response assessment. His subsequent work has expanded RANO criteria to pediatric brain tumors, leptomeningeal disease, immunotherapy trials (iRANO), and specific histologies. Beyond response assessment, Dr. Wen has led or participated in numerous phase II and III trials of targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and combination strategies in GBM and other brain tumors. He has served in leadership roles for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology brain tumor committee, the Brain Tumor Consortium, and the AACR, and has mentored dozens of academic neuro-oncologists. His program at Dana-Farber is at the forefront of testing CAR-T cells, bispecific antibodies, and next-generation immunotherapies for CNS malignancies.