Editorial Board Member
Howard L. Kaufman MD, FACS
President & Chief Executive Officer • Ankyra Therapeutics
Physician & Surgeon • Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Journal of Cutaneous Oncology
Biography
Surgical oncologist, immunotherapy investigator, and biotechnology leader.
Dr. Kaufman is a surgical oncologist, cancer physician, and immunotherapy investigator with expertise in melanoma and other advanced and high-risk skin cancers. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Ankyra Therapeutics and practices at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, where his clinical interests include skin cancer and head and neck cancer.
Dr. Kaufman has been a leader in the development of tumor immunotherapy and oncolytic viruses. He led the successful phase III trial of talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), which resulted in the first FDA approval of an oncolytic virus for the treatment of cancer. He also led the pivotal clinical trial of avelumab, an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, demonstrating therapeutic activity in Merkel cell carcinoma and contributing to its FDA approval for the disease.
His career has spanned academic medicine, clinical investigation, and biotechnology. He previously held leadership positions at Columbia University, Rush University, and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and has served in senior industry roles at Compass Therapeutics, Replimune, and Immuneering. He has served as President of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer and on numerous scientific and professional boards.
Dr. Kaufman received his medical degree from Loyola University, completed residency training in general surgery at Boston University, and completed fellowship training in tumor immunology and surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute. He has authored more than 600 peer-reviewed papers, textbooks, and book chapters and remains active in clinical care, scientific investigation, and the development of new cancer immunotherapies.