# Patrick Hwu
**Patrick Hwu** (P. Hwu) is a tumor immunologist who serves as president and chief executive officer of [Moffitt Cancer Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/moffitt-cancer-center) in [Tampa, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/tampa-florida), the only [National Cancer Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-cancer-institute)-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Florida.[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/) He helped launch the field of gene-modified T cells, publishing research on the first chimeric antigen receptor directed against cancer, and he was senior author of the 2011 New England Journal of Medicine trial of a gp100 peptide vaccine plus interleukin-2 in advanced melanoma.[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/) • [2](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-therapeutic-melanoma-vaccine-response-progression-free.html) Before Moffitt, he spent 17 years in leadership roles at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/)
| Key facts | |
| --- | --- |
| Current role | President and CEO, Moffitt Cancer Center, since November 10, 2020[3](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-md-as-president-and-ceo-301115407.html) |
| Field | Tumor immunology; melanoma, vaccines, adoptive T-cell therapy, immune resistance[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/) |
| Signature work | gp100 peptide vaccine plus interleukin-2 phase 3 trial, New England Journal of Medicine, 2011[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3517182/) |
| Training | Medical College of Pennsylvania; Johns Hopkins internal medicine residency (1987); National Cancer Institute oncology fellowship[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/) |
| NCI career | Principal investigator under Steven Rosenberg, working on early CAR-T development[5](https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/sep/04/patrick-hwu-moffitt-cencer-center/) |
| MD Anderson | First chairman of Melanoma Medical Oncology (recruited 2003); later head of Division of Cancer Medicine[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/) |
| Honors | Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2008; issued U.S. patents, according to his American Society for Clinical Investigation member profile |[6](https://data.the-asci.org/controllers/asci/DirectoryController.php?action=profile&entryId=500634) • [7](https://floridainvents.org/patrick-hwu/)
## Education and early career
After graduating high school in 1981, Hwu entered a six-year medical program that spent two years at [Lehigh University](https://www.edgepedia.org/lehigh-university) and four years at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.[5](https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/sep/04/patrick-hwu-moffitt-cencer-center/) In 1987 he began an internal medicine residency at [Johns Hopkins Hospital](https://www.edgepedia.org/johns-hopkins-hospital), leaving after two years to pursue cancer medicine.[5](https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/sep/04/patrick-hwu-moffitt-cencer-center/) He completed an oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, where he worked as a principal investigator leading tumor immunology studies.[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/)
According to the Business Observer, he spent about 11 years at the NCI under [Steven Rosenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-rosenberg). His early work lies at the origin of CAR-T therapy: he demonstrated that T cells could be modified with novel chimeric receptor genes composed of antibody and [T-cell receptor](https://www.edgepedia.org/t-cell-receptor) elements for cancer, and he developed the first methods to gene-modify dendritic cells, which potently activate T cells.[6](https://data.the-asci.org/controllers/asci/DirectoryController.php?action=profile&entryId=500634) [CAR T-cell therapy](https://www.edgepedia.org/car-t-cell-therapy) was first applied to cancer in 1993 in a Journal of Experimental Medicine paper he co-authored at NCI; he describes the NCI studies of the early 1990s as among the first with CAR-T.[8](https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20210706/cell-therapy-pioneer-predicts-bright-future-for-field)
## Career at MD Anderson
In 2003 Hwu was recruited to MD Anderson as the first chairman of the Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology.[1](https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/)
## President of Moffitt Cancer Center
Moffitt announced Hwu's appointment as president and CEO on August 20, 2020; he began the role on November 10, 2020, bringing 33 years of oncology experience.[3](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-md-as-president-and-ceo-301115407.html) • [9](https://ascopost.com/issues/september-10-2020/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-president-and-chief-executive-officer/) He is a Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, and his laboratory develops immunotherapies for melanoma, pancreatic cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, glioblastoma, and colorectal cancer.[7](https://floridainvents.org/patrick-hwu/) He is principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health SPORE grant for melanoma.[9](https://ascopost.com/issues/september-10-2020/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-president-and-chief-executive-officer/)
Under his leadership, Moffitt has treated over 1,200 CAR T patients, mostly for hematologic malignancies such as lymphomas and myelomas.[10](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/editorial/moffitt-cancer-center-ceo-dr-patrick-hwu-on-car-t-tils-and-tracking-patient-outcomes) At the Speros campus, a 775-acre medical and research site under construction in Pasco County, a new proton therapy center began treating patients on July 27, 2026, and a 250,000-square-foot research building was scheduled to open in October 2026, which Hwu has described as intended to be "the Los Alamos of cancer research".[5](https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/sep/04/patrick-hwu-moffitt-cencer-center/)
## Representative work
According to the trial report in the New England Journal of Medicine, the gp100 peptide vaccine plus interleukin-2 trial, published on June 2, 2011, with Hwu as senior author, was a randomized phase 3 trial involving 185 patients at 21 centers with stage IV or locally advanced stage III cutaneous melanoma, HLA-A*0201 expression, an absence of brain metastases, and suitability for high-dose interleukin-2.[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3517182/) • [2](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-therapeutic-melanoma-vaccine-response-progression-free.html) The vaccine arm, using the gp100:209–217(210M) peptide, showed a centrally verified overall clinical response of 16% versus 6% for interleukin-2 alone (P = 0.03) and longer progression-free survival (2.2 months versus 1.6 months; P = 0.008).[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3517182/) Median overall survival was 17.8 months with the vaccine versus 11.1 months without (P = 0.06), a trend that did not reach statistical significance.[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3517182/) The trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, started in December 1999 and reached primary completion in May 2011.[11](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00019682) It was reported as the first vaccine study in melanoma, and one of the first in cancer overall, to show clinical benefit in a randomized phase 3 trial.[12](https://www.newswise.com/articles/vaccine-shows-therapeutic-promise-against-advanced-melanoma) The vaccine and its early basic and clinical studies were developed during Hwu's tenure at NCI.[12](https://www.newswise.com/articles/vaccine-shows-therapeutic-promise-against-advanced-melanoma)
His other work identified a novel class II epitope in the melanoma antigen gp100 using gene-transduced dendritic cells, demonstrated that interleukin-21 has antitumor effects in vivo, and showed that dendritic cells and tumors can express IDO, an enzyme that inhibits T-cell function by decreasing local tryptophan levels; in murine tumor models the combination of T cells and dendritic cells was significantly more effective than either alone, a finding he took to a clinical trial in melanoma patients.[6](https://data.the-asci.org/controllers/asci/DirectoryController.php?action=profile&entryId=500634)
## Industry roles and honors
Hwu was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2008.[6](https://data.the-asci.org/controllers/asci/DirectoryController.php?action=profile&entryId=500634) At the time of his Moffitt appointment he was vice president and president elect of the [Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer](https://www.edgepedia.org/society-for-immunotherapy-of-cancer).[9](https://ascopost.com/issues/september-10-2020/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-president-and-chief-executive-officer/) He serves on the Melanoma Research Alliance Foundation Medical Advisory Panel in Washington, D.C.[3](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-md-as-president-and-ceo-301115407.html) He holds 12 issued U.S. patents related to cancer immunotherapy and cellular therapy innovation; his patented work in chimeric receptor genes contributed to the foundation for modern CAR T-cell therapy.[7](https://floridainvents.org/patrick-hwu/)
## Recent developments
The first TIL (tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte) therapy has been approved by the FDA for melanoma that progressed beyond initial therapies of immune checkpoint blockade or targeted therapy, a milestone for the adoptive cell therapy (treating cancer by infusing lab-grown immune cells) field Hwu helped build.[10](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/editorial/moffitt-cancer-center-ceo-dr-patrick-hwu-on-car-t-tils-and-tracking-patient-outcomes) According to the *Business Observer*, the chimeric antigen receptor, the custom laboratory-created receptor protein at the center of his early work, now has dozens of FDA approvals.[5](https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/sep/04/patrick-hwu-moffitt-cencer-center/) At Moffitt, the Speros campus proton therapy center began treating patients in July 2026 and the research building was scheduled to open in October 2026.[5](https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/sep/04/patrick-hwu-moffitt-cencer-center/)
## References
1. Patrick Hwu, MD, Moffitt Cancer Center provider profile. https://www.moffitt.org/providers/patrick-hwu/
2. Therapeutic melanoma vaccine improves response rate, progression-free survival (Medical Xpress, June 2011). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-therapeutic-melanoma-vaccine-response-progression-free.html
3. Moffitt Cancer Center Names Patrick Hwu, M.D., as President and CEO (PR Newswire, Aug. 20, 2020). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-md-as-president-and-ceo-301115407.html
4. gp100 Peptide Vaccine and Interleukin-2 in Patients with Advanced Melanoma (N Engl J Med. 2011;364:2119–2127). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3517182/
5. Moffitt Cancer Center's CEO at historical forefront of new treatments (Business Observer, Sept. 4, 2026). https://www.businessobserverfl.com/news/2026/sep/04/patrick-hwu-moffitt-cencer-center/
6. American Society for Clinical Investigation member profile: Patrick Hwu. https://data.the-asci.org/controllers/asci/DirectoryController.php?action=profile&entryId=500634
7. Patrick Hwu, Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. https://floridainvents.org/patrick-hwu/
8. Cell therapy pioneer predicts 'bright' future for field (Healio, July 2021). https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20210706/cell-therapy-pioneer-predicts-bright-future-for-field
9. Moffitt Cancer Center Names Patrick Hwu President and Chief Executive Officer (The ASCO Post, Sept. 10, 2020). https://ascopost.com/issues/september-10-2020/moffitt-cancer-center-names-patrick-hwu-president-and-chief-executive-officer/
10. Moffitt Cancer Center CEO Dr Patrick Hwu on CAR T, TILs and Tracking Patient Outcomes (Fierce Biotech). https://www.fiercebiotech.com/editorial/moffitt-cancer-center-ceo-dr-patrick-hwu-on-car-t-tils-and-tracking-patient-outcomes
11. Aldesleukin With or Without Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Melanoma (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00019682). https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00019682
12. Vaccine Shows Therapeutic Promise Against Advanced Melanoma (Newswise/ASCO). https://www.newswise.com/articles/vaccine-shows-therapeutic-promise-against-advanced-melanoma
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in cancer biology and oncology research › Tumor immunology and immunotherapy › Cellular and vaccine immunotherapy developers*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license