Brent A. Hanks, M.D., Ph.D.

Brent A. Hanks, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Medical Oncology in the Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Basic/Translational Research for the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy within the Duke Cancer Institute. Dr. Hanks completed his M.D. along with a Ph.D. in tumor immunology while in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine.  He went on to complete his internal medicine residency training and his oncology fellowship training at Duke University. After completing his training, Dr. Hanks has built a NIH/DoD/and multi-foundation-funded research lab focused on the discovery and translation of tumor-mediated immune evasion and immunotherapy resistance mechanisms. This work has been primarily directed toward the study of tumor-intrinsic mechanisms of immune evasion in addition to exploring how tumors manipulate dendritic cell functionality and antigen cross-presentation in the tumor microenvironment. An additional component of his lab is now also investigating mechanisms of tumor-dependent innate training and how these processes may contribute to immunotherapy-associated toxicities. Dr. Hanks is also a medical oncologist with 13 years of experience managing cancer patients with immunotherapy.