John L. Marshall, M.D.
Chief, Hematology and Oncology
Associate Director of Clinical Research
Director, Developmental Therapeutics and GI Oncology
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown University
Washington DC 20007

Dr. Marshall received his training at Duke University, the University of Louisville, and Georgetown University. Following the completion of his medical oncology fellowship, he remained on the faculty of Georgetown University where he focuses on clinical research activities within the Lombardi Cancer Center.   Dr. Marshall is an internationally recognized expert in new drug development for GI cancer, with expertise in phase I, II, and III trial design, and has served as Principal Investigator for more than one hundred clinical trials.  Administratively, he directs all clinical research activities within the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Lombardi/MedStar Research Network.  While he has an interest in many areas of cancer research, his primary focus has been on the development of vaccines to treat cancer. This work has funded through a series of NIH grants and industry collaborations. Dr. Marshall has become an outspoken advocate for GI cancer patients and the importance of clinical research participation. Finally, Dr. Marshall has served as a mentor for many young clinical research investigators. He oversees a clinical research training program in the Developmental Therapeutics program which was established to ensure strong leadership in clinical research for the future.

Christopher G. Willett, M.D.
L.R. Prosnitz Professor and Chair
Department of Radiation Oncology
Duke University Medical Center

Dr. Willett is Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and a specialist in gastrointestinal cancers.  He joined the Duke faculty in March, 2004.  He formerly was Clinical Director of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard University School of Medicine.  Dr. Willett received  his Bachelor and M.D.degree from Tufts University in Boston.  He completed a surgical internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a residency in Radiation Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.  He joined the faculty of Harvard in 1986 after completing his residency.  He also has held appointments as a radiation oncologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston.  Dr. Willett has served as the President of the International Society of Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (ISIORT).  He also was a founding member of ISORT in 1996.  He also has served as Chair of the GI Committee of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, a national cooperative conducting clinical trials in cancer.  The author of more than 200 scientific papers and reviews, Dr. Willett also has edited books on intraoperative irradiation and gastrointestinal cancer. His research interests focus on the study of new therapies for treating rectal and pancreatic cancer, the use of intraoperative radiation therapy in treating gastrointestinal cancers, and conducting clinical trials on therapies to treat these malignancies. 

Leonard Gunderson, M.D.
Professor of Radiation Oncology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Dr. Leonard Gunderson is Professor of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and is a consultant in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic in Arizona.  In addition, he is the Deputy Director for Clinical Affairs, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center – Arizona and is the Getz Family Professor of Radiation Oncology.  He is currently Vice-Chair for the AJCC Staging Hindgut Task Force and is on the Steering Committee for the yearly GI Cancer Symposia that are co-sponsored by ASCO, ASTRO, SSO and AGA.

Dr Gunderson has had long-standing clinical research interests in the indications for and results of external beam irradiation as a component of multi-modality treatment for patients with gastro-intestinal (GI) cancers (colo-rectal, gastric, pancreas, biliary, anus, esophagus) and soft tissue sarcomas.  In addition he has teamed with surgical colleagues in evaluating the role of intraoperative irradiation plus maximal surgical resection for patients with locally advanced primary and locally recurrent cancers.  He served in a leadership position in RTOG from 1987-2001; Chair of the GI Cancer Committee (1987-94) and Vice-Chair for Disease Sites (1994-2001).  Most recently, he was co-PI on a large U.S. GI Intergroup phase III protocol for anal canal carcinoma which confirmed concurrent chemoradiation with 5FU/mitomycin as the preferred primary treatment.