Reprinted with permission from ASCO Connection, June 26, 2026.
ASCO joins the oncology community in mourning the loss of Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD. As a medical oncologist specializing in thoracic/head and neck cancers, and as a molecular epidemiologist, Dr. Gillison definitively characterized the association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and a distinct subset of head and neck cancers starting as a graduate student. Dr. Gillison passed away on June 21, 2026; she was 61.
Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD
In recognition of her far-reaching contributions to understanding HPV-associated cancers, ASCO presented Dr. Gillison with the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award, the Society’s highest scientific honor, in 2021. In her award lecture, Dr. Gillison provided an overview of the growing global burden of HPV-associated cancers, chronicled her major research breakthroughs about the natural history of HPV-associated cancers, and discussed her latest research, focused on understanding the effects of HPV integration into the host genome including focal genomic instability that may promote cancer development. She emphasized the ongoing challenge of screening and prevention, calling it “the greatest unmet need” in oropharyngeal cancer.
A longtime ASCO member, Dr. Gillison served as an associate editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). Her past volunteer service includes a term on the JCO Editorial Board and track leadership positions on the Annual Meeting Education Program Committee and Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee, among other roles.
In the tributes that follow, numerous colleagues remember her as a brilliant scientist, a tireless advocate, and a beloved family member, mentor, and friend. [ASCO] gratefully acknowledges Dr. David E. Symer, Dr. Gillison’s husband, who reviewed and provided feedback on this piece.
Discovery Is an Act of Hope: Remembering Dr. Maura Gillison's Pursuit of Truth
By Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, MAS, FASTRO, David Raben, MD, A. Dimitrios Colevas, MD, and Carole Fakhry, MD, PhD
Maura Gillison did not chase awards. She chased answers, and especially clinically impactful answers. That distinction between the pursuit of recognition and the pursuit of truth defined everything about her as a scientist, a clinician, and a person. She was direct with compassion, generous to the last, and possessed of a laugh that could fill a room. To the surprise of many who only knew her as a speaker behind a podium, she was also a trained dancer who had not entirely left the dance floor.
Dr. Gillison passed away on June 21, 2026, surrounded by her devoted mother, her husband, Dr. David Symer, and her daughters, Sanna and Lia. She died as she had lived: on her own terms, in her childhood home in Ohio. The field she transformed is immeasurably poorer for her loss.
A Discovery That Changed Everything
Born in Ontario, Canada, and raised across the United States and Mexico, Maura brought a global sensibility to everything she touched. She studied zoology at Duke University before earning her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and later her doctoral degree in clinical investigation at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a dual mastery that would prove uniquely well-suited to the question that would consume her career: Why were some people with head and neck cancer doing so unexpectedly well?
The answer, as she demonstrated in a landmark paper that she published with colleagues in 2000 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, was HPV.
Specifically, HPV-16, a sexually transmitted virus, is a direct causal agent in a distinct and biologically different subset of head and neck cancers. This finding overturned nearly a century of conventional wisdom attributing all head and neck cancers to tobacco and alcohol. She is widely recognized as the first to establish this causal link conclusively.
Her own reflection on the work was characteristic, as she told The ASCO Post in 2019: “Although the 2000 JNCI paper changed my whole career, I was having so much fun that I didn’t realize its implications.” Fun, she always insisted, was not a distraction from good science; it was the engine of it.
Building the Evidence, Brick by Brick
What followed was 25 years of systematic, relentless science. Seminal papers in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2007 and 2010 characterized the epidemiology of HPV-associated head and neck cancer, identified sexual transmission as a key risk factor, and established the striking difference in prognosis between HPV-positive and HPV-negative disease. In 2009, she presented data at the ASCO Annual Meeting demonstrating that HPV status is the single most important predictor of clinical outcome in oropharyngeal cancer, work that prompted the National Cancer Institute to mandate HPV stratification in all HNSCC clinical trials. It was, in the most literal sense, a redrawing of the map. It was a game changer for our field.
From the Jeg Coughlin Chair at Ohio State to the halls of MD Anderson, she used every platform to push further: into the molecular mechanisms of HPV-driven malignancy, into treatment de-escalation strategies that might spare patients unnecessary toxicity, and into the global implications of HPV vaccination for cancer prevention. Her science was never abstract. It was always ultimately about the patient and always to address fundamental questions.
Honors Earned, Never Sought
The accolades accumulated despite her indifference to them: election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2010); the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award from AACR (2012); election to the National Academy of Medicine (2013); the Karnofsky Award and Lecture from ASCO (2021). In 2025, she received the VinFuture Grand Prize, an international distinction recognizing discoveries that create tangible, scalable, and positive change that benefits humanity. She accepted these recognitions graciously and went immediately back to work.
The Whole Person
Those who knew Maura well knew that the scientist was inseparable from the person. She had trained as a dancer in her youth and carried that physicality with her, a precision, a sense of rhythm, an understanding that timing matters. She was intentional in every decision and action, ensuring they were consistent with her moral compass. She was not one to mince words; she told you what she thought, plainly and without performance, and you trusted her the more for it. She possessed a humor that was quick and pointed and occasionally, memorably, irreverent. She was devoted to her family with the same intensity she brought to her work.
She mentored generously and without ego, the kind of mentor who asked harder questions of the people she believed in, and whose belief meant something precisely because it was not freely given. Researchers, clinicians, and public health advocates across six continents carry her influence forward in the questions they ask and the rigor with which they pursue answers.
Every Day Is a Beautiful Day—Don’t Let It Get Away
Maura Gillison understood, perhaps more acutely than most, that time is not infinite and that what you do with it is everything. She would have little patience for grief that became paralysis. Her life’s message, spoken in data and in deed, was that discovery is an act of hope and hope requires showing up.
In the spirit she would recognize and probably smile at, in that way she had. To humbly borrow a thought from the song she might have danced to: It’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away. For those of us who had the privilege of working alongside her, or learning from her, or simply witnessing what relentless curiosity in service of humanity looks like, the obligation is clear. Carry the work forward. Ask the harder question. Make the day beautiful, make it count.
Her discovery that HPV causes a substantial subset of head and neck cancers will continue to save lives—through expanded vaccination, refined staging, and treatments designed around biology rather than assumption—long after those who knew her are gone. That is the measure of a life in science. That is Maura Gillison’s measure.
Further Remembrances From Friends and Colleagues
I remember taking my 10-year-old son in for his HPV vaccine and being met with some real skepticism, even from a health care provider, about why a boy would need it at all. It was a good reminder of how far the conversation still had to travel. Maura understood something that many hadn't yet caught up to: that vaccinating boys was never optional, it was fundamental. She had that clarity early, and she could bring people along with her, with both authority and grace. I only wished she had been there with me that day.
—A. Dimitrios Colevas, MD
Maura had a way of thinking about things in 360 degrees. She was never hesitant or afraid to turn something completely upside down even if it could deflate parts of her own legacy. There was a huge investment in decreasing intensity of therapy for patients with HPV+ cancers in the wake of her revolutionary publications. Many trials were running all over the place. I remember talking to her about this and she said, speaking from her absolutely unbiased and scientific mind, ‘It’s also possible, and I keep telling people this, we may have already stumbled upon the perfect treatment and we don’t need to change anything. But, we absolutely have to prove that’s the case.’”
—Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, MAS, FASTRO
There are a few moments in life you never forget. I can relive, as if it were 5 minutes ago, the day at ECOG that [Maura] presented the HPV data from E2399, where she was standing, where Arlene [Forastiere] was sitting, how the implications dawned on people in the room as she was talking. How lucid her talks always were, how she loved to talk about her family…. I think we all admired similar aspects of her prodigious commitment and intellect, and all saw the enormous impact she had on people with or at risk for HPV infection, on those with head and neck cancer, and on so many trainees and mentees.
—Barbara Burtness, MD
“Yes,” I said to my pediatrician, “I will pay out-of-pocket for the HPV vaccine for my son,” as I handed him the published paper. It was 2003 and Dr. Maura Gillison, a mentee and physician-researcher colleague at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, had published her groundbreaking discovery of the causative association of human papilloma virus type 16 (HPV-16) infection and cancers of the tongue and tonsil. Furthermore, she showed the dramatically rising incidence of these oral cancers in younger men which, as she predicted, would exceed the rates of cervical cancer in women, also caused by HPV. So why should boys not be vaccinated as well as girls?
Dr. Gillison, a brilliant laboratory scientist and caring oncologist, transformed our understanding, classification, and treatment of oral cancers globally. I will personally miss hearing that excitement in her voice as she would tell me of investigations going on in her lab at MD Anderson. There, up until her death, she continued to direct her molecular genetic research laboratory to unravel the mechanisms of viral invasion and co-opting of the cell’s replication machinery to drive these cancers.
The cancer community has lost a brilliant, innovative leader and I will miss her greatly.
—Arlene A. Forastiere, MD
I first met Dr. Maura Gillison 20 years ago, and from that very first day, I knew I was in the presence of someone extraordinary. She often said she was a scientist first and a physician second because research could reach far more people than any one doctor ever could. That belief guided her life's work and inspired everyone fortunate enough to work alongside her.
Over two decades together, from Johns Hopkins to Ohio State to MD Anderson, I had the privilege of learning from her, and witnessing firsthand the brilliance, determination, and generosity that defined her career. I was honored to contribute to the epidemiological research that helped transform our understanding of oropharyngeal cancer. Through careful population-based research, we helped establish that HPV was driving a new and rapidly growing epidemic, one that disproportionately affected men. This work helped provide the scientific foundation for extending HPV vaccination recommendations to boys—a decision that has since prevented countless cancers and saved innumerable lives.
Under Maura’s guidance, I also had the opportunity to help develop a noninvasive cell-free assay for detecting circulating HPV DNA, now used at MD Anderson to monitor treatment response in patients with HPV-associated cancers. Like so many who trained and worked with her, I benefited from her unwavering support, her confidence in others, and her remarkable ability to see potential that we often did not see in ourselves.
But Maura’s legacy extends far beyond her scientific achievements. She was an exceptional mentor, and a dear friend. She challenged us to think more deeply, work more rigorously, and aim higher than we thought possible. She celebrated our successes, stood by us through setbacks, and created opportunities that changed the course of many careers, including my own.
To me, Maura was more than a mentor or a boss—she was family. Her loss leaves an immeasurable void, and I will miss her deeply. Yet her influence lives on in the countless people she mentored, the discoveries she made, and the patients whose lives will be healthier and longer because of her work. It was one of the greatest privileges of my life to know her and to walk part of this journey by her side.
—Weihong Xiao, MD, PhD
Dr. Gillison was a pioneer in identifying the role of HPV infection in oral cancer. She gave me the tremendous opportunity to work with genomic data to investigate HPV integration into the human genome. Our work demonstrated that HPV integration drives tumor development by inducing focal amplification and ecDNA, leading to genomic instability at oncogene loci and intratumoral heterogeneity. It was a real honor to work with her for the past 12 years.
Our lab member, Dr. Weihong Xiao (lab manager), worked with Dr. Gillison for more than 20 years. Weihong developed a non-invasive cell-free assay to detect circulating HPV DNA, which has been used to monitor treatment response and disease dynamics in HPV-associated cancers, including cervical and anal cancer at MD Anderson. Weihong is very proud of her work. Another lab member, Bo Jiang (research laboratory coordinator) began working with Dr. Gillison 17 years ago. She is currently preparing a manuscript focused on HPV-targeting TCRs. Bo’s daughter, Robyn Du, was an elementary school student when she first met Dr. Gillison, and now she works in our department as a clinical studies supervisor. Dr. Gillison gave all of us tremendous opportunities to grow professionally.
In her personal life, Dr. Gillison was an avid reader. She read whenever she had spare time and wanted to relax. She also raised her two daughters to be avid readers. She was frequently carrying Barnes & Noble book bags. When my daughter was in kindergarten and just starting to read, Maura gave her children’s books. One of them was Ivy + Bean, and Maura chuckled about the jokes those two heroines made. She also gave my daughter a dress for her first string performance.
Last year, my daughter did dog sitting and dog walking for Maura. Her dog is cute and funny (and very food-motivated) and loved to goof around in front of her (and others). I just realized that we have only a few pictures with Maura, while we have numerous photos of her dog—such missed opportunities. I still cannot believe she is not with us. Dr. Gillison had such a huge presence in our lives.
—Keiko Akagi, PhD
Have you ever thought you were a relatively smart person and then met someone who completely transformed your previously conceived notion of “smart” and you reveled at what true genius is? That has been my general experience working at MD Anderson, but if I was going to attribute that experience to one person, it would be Maura Gillison. I hoped each day that I worked alongside her that a small piece of her genius would rub off on me eventually.
People commonly speak to her love of science, her discoveries, and her work in the lab—rightfully so. While her face would light up when she talked about her research, the brightest was when she talked about her daughters. She loved her family. The side of her that I got to see most during our time in clinic was her love of people, specifically her patients. She didn’t just care about her patient’s cancer—she cared about the patient. She loved learning details about each person and what experiences over the course of their lives made them unique. She was a collector of stories and of wisdom. Her patients often would tell me how much they appreciated and respected Dr. Gillison and mostly how much they trusted her. It was a shared experience not only with her patients but with me.
She told such fascinating stories about her life: the hardships, the dark humor, the high points. We would often joke that she should write a book—I definitely would have read it.
I have so much to thank Dr. Gillison for. She challenged me every day to be better. Her expectations were high. She helped to shape me into the provider I am today. She once told me that when she thinks of me, she smiles a lot. I often would try to make her laugh because it was a great laugh. What a profoundly amazing person she was! I vow to keep smiling in her memory every day.
—Jennifer Owens, MS, APRN, FNP-C
I was very fortunate to be one of Dr. Gillison’s mentees. I worked with her for most of my fellowship at MD Anderson. With a strong interest in HPV-associated head and neck cancer, I actually ranked MDACC number 1 in hopes of learning from the person that fundamentally changed head and neck oncology. She taught me to practice evidence-based medicine and rationalize every clinical decision. She taught me to translate findings in the laboratory to the bedside. Under her guidance, we validated an HPV liquid biopsy that is now routinely used at our institution. She also taught me to write a successful grant application and, under her mentorship, I was awarded an ASCO and Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award. Aside from being a great mentor, she was also a close friend who took an interest in my personal life. I am so grateful to have worked with Maura Gillison and will miss her very much.
—Michael Wotman, MD
Maura’s life and work leave an enduring mark on our field and on all of us who knew her. She was a true pioneer, whose paradigm-changing research reshaped our understanding of HPV-driven oropharynx cancer. She opened new paths for discovery and care. Beyond her direct scientific contributions, she was a devoted mentor who inspired and guided countless physicians and scientists, instilling in them both rigor and compassion. Her patients were always at the center of her work—she cared for them deeply, treating each with empathy and unwavering commitment. She carried herself with remarkable kindness and generosity, offering her time and wisdom freely, while holding herself and others to the highest standards of excellence.
Maura was also my friend and I loved her dearly. We shared personal and professional stories and challenges. We shopped for art together, sat on the beach in Mexico, sipped wine (often tea for her!), exchanged funny memes by text, and shared many meals. She was my best source for good book recommendations. I find myself still wanting to call her or walk into her office to share my anecdotes and ask for advice.
Maura’s legacy will live on in the lives she touched, the knowledge she advanced, and the values she embodied so fully. We will always carry her light with us.
—Faye M. Johnson, MD, PhD
