Joan H. Schiller, MD, FASCO
Joan H. Schiller, MD, FASCO, was recently honored by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) with the Paul A. Bunn, Jr, Scientific Award. Dr. Schiller’s many accomplishments include helping to break the taboo of talking about lung cancer and expanding public understanding of lung cancer as a disease caused by a variety of factors.
Dr. Schiller is former Division Chief of Hematology/Oncology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she led the institution’s process to become a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center and then an NCI-designated comprehensive center in 2015. She was also Deputy Director of the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center in Dallas. Currently, Dr. Schiller is Adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia, a board member of the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, and a member of the IASLC Lung Cancer News Editorial Group.
Compassion and a focus on research are the keystones of Dr. Schiller’s career. Although a lot of attention was focused on breast cancer, Dr. Schiller was quick to raise awareness about other cancers that affect women. Her research highlighted the fact that women respond differently to certain cancer treatments than their male counterparts, which increased women’s participation in clinical trials.
Her Path to Lung Cancer Care
Dr. Schiller graduated from the University of Illinois Medical School and completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She completed a clinical fellowship in the Department of Human Oncology at the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Schiller is a past board member for IASLC and has served in many roles at the NCI, including Chair of the Thoracic Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. She currently serves on the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors–Clinical Sciences and Epidemiology and is a mentor for ASCO’s Leadership Development Program. She also served as Editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
