William G. Wierda

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD is Executive Medical Director of the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine, where he has directed one of the world's highest-volume CLL clinical and research programs for over two decades. Dr. Wierda is widely recognized for his central leadership role in establishing FCR (fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, rituximab) chemoimmunotherapy as the standard of care for fit CLL patients with the landmark MD Anderson FCR experience (Blood 2010), with long-term follow-up demonstrating functional cure in a subset of IGHV-mutated patients (>50% 12.8-year PFS). He has been a principal investigator and key collaborator in multiple registrational CLL trials, including venetoclax-based combinations. Dr. Wierda co-led studies of venetoclax plus obinutuzumab in CLL, contributing to the CLL14 trial framework that established fixed-duration venetoclax doublet as an effective alternative to continuous BTK inhibitor therapy. He has led MD Anderson's Richter transformation research program, investigating novel combinations including checkpoint inhibitors and bispecific antibodies in this aggressive transformation. A prolific author with over 400 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Wierda serves on the NCCN CLL guidelines panel and is a frequent presenter at ASH and ASCO, shaping international standards for CLL diagnosis, prognostication, and treatment.