Biography

Robert A. Winn, MD, is cancer center director of Fox Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's first National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, where he leads the institution's scientific strategy across basic, translational, clinical, and population science while advancing its mission to improve the lives of patients through research, innovation, and compassionate care. A nationally recognized physician-scientist, pulmonologist, and cancer center leader, Dr. Winn is known for building collaborative research enterprises, advancing team science, and developing new models that connect scientific discovery directly to the needs of patients and communities.

Throughout his career, Dr. Winn has championed the concept of taking science "from bench to bedside to the block," recognizing that scientific breakthroughs achieve their greatest impact only when they reach the communities they are intended to serve. His leadership has helped redefine community engagement as an essential driver of scientific discovery, fostering research that is informed by the experiences, priorities, and needs of the populations cancer centers serve. Guided by his belief that he is "community made," Dr. Winn has become a leading national advocate for integrating scientific excellence, clinical innovation, and community partnership to improve cancer outcomes.

Prior to joining Fox Chase, Dr. Winn served as director of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior associate dean for Cancer Innovation. Under his leadership, Massey achieved NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center designation in 2023 following a period of significant growth in research funding, team science, faculty recruitment, and clinical trial participation. Earlier in his career, he directed the University of Illinois Cancer Center, where he pioneered innovative approaches to integrating community perspectives into cancer research and care.
 
Dr. Winn's research, supported by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, focuses on the molecular mechanisms of lung cancer and the development of novel therapeutic approaches. A pulmonologist by training, he has dedicated much of his career to improving cancer outcomes through community-engaged research, precision medicine, and expanding participation in clinical trials. He has authored or co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
 
Dr. Winn recently completed his term as president of the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), where he helped advance collaboration among the nation's leading academic cancer centers. In addition to serving as AACI's immediate past president, he currently serves as chair of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; is a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy; and serves on the boards of the American Cancer Society and LUNGevity Foundation, in addition to numerous national advisory committees advancing cancer research, policy, and innovation.
 
Among his many honors are the National Cancer Institute Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities CURE Program Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2021 AACI Cancer Health Equity Award, the AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship, the Prevent Cancer Foundation Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Laurel Award for Increasing Health Equity, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award. In recognition of his national leadership in expanding access to clinical research, the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation renamed its Diversity in Clinical Trials Career Development Program the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program, which prepares the next generation of community-oriented clinical investigators. 

Dr. Winn earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Notre Dame and his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.