Professor Brian Druker

Brian J. Druker, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine at the Knight Cancer Institute at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) where he holds the JELD‑WEN Chair of Leukemia Research. He was the Director of the Knight Cancer Institute from 2007 to 2024 and was a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator (2002–2019).

He received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego and completed his residency at Barnes Hospital, Washington University, followed by a fellowship in oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

His research led to the development of imatinib, the first targeted therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia, dramatically changing patient outcomes and launching modern precision oncology. His lab continues advancing new targeted cancer treatments and early detection tools.

He has authored over 500 peer-reviewed publications and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.

He has received numerous accolades—Lasker–DeBakey Award, Japan Prize, Sjöberg Prize, iCMLf Rowley Prize, Dickson Prize, Tang Prize, and many others—alongside election to the National Academies of Medicine and Sciences.