An international leader in lung cancer clinical trials research with particular expertise in drug development for thoracic malignancies and immunotherapy, Dr. Julie R. Brahmer currently serves as director of the Thoracic Oncology Program and professor of oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Bayview. In addition, she serves as co-principal investigator (PI) on the Johns Hopkins’ NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Program grant, and helps direct all oncology cooperative group activities on the Johns Hopkins campuses.
Dr Brahmer's research and clinical practice focus on the development of new therapies for the treatment and prevention of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Dr Brahmer has published several papers in this area of research and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Thoracic Committee and Cancer Prevention Steering Committee. She is one of the founding board members for the National Lung Cancer Partnership, now known as Free to Breathe, where she is a member of the Scientific Executive Committee. She is also on the medical advisory board of the Lung Cancer Research Foundation and LUNGevity.
Dr Brahmer was the 2012 recipient of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Statesman Award for her volunteer efforts to the society. In the summer of 2014, she was featured in MORE magazine for her cutting-edge research in the groundbreaking field of cancer immunotherapy. As a result of her work, she was named the March 2015 LUNGevity Hero.
Dr Brahmer has been intimately involved in the development of anti-PD-1 antibodies as PI of several early phase I studies of these antibodies and phase III studies in lung cancer. These trials led to the FDA approval of the first immunotherapy option in lung cancer, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab for first-line treatment in advanced PD-L1 TPS > 50% NSCLC. Dr Brahmer is committed to the research and development of effective immune-based therapies in the treatment of lung cancer and other cancers such as mesothelioma.
She received her medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine, completed her residency at the University of Utah, and completed her oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins.
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