Everett E. Vokes is an American oncologist. He is the John E. Ultmann Professor, chair of the Department of Medicine, and physician-in-chief at the

University of Chicago Medical Center The University of Chicago Medical Center, branded as UChicago Medicine, is a nationally ranked academic medical center located in Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago. It is the flagship campus for The U ...

. In this role, he pioneered the combination radiation and chemotherapy as first-line treatment for head and neck cancer.

Early life and education

Vokes was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where his parents lived and studied at

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

. His family shortly thereafter relocated to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and at the age of four, his parents divorced. As his mother’s family were German immigrants, he went with his mother to

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

so she could continue to work as a pianist. He earned his medical degree at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

and returned to North America for his residency in

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

at Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center in Chicago and at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. During his time as a medical fellow, he began to believe "the answer o cure cancermight lie in giving patients chemotherapy and radiation simultaneously."

Career

Upon completing his formal education, Vokes arrived at the

(UChicago Medicine) as a hematology/oncology fellow in 1983 and was promoted to professor in 1995. As an oncologist at UChicago Medicine, Vokes served as the principal investigator of the University of Chicago's National Cancer Institute Phase II program, supporting numerous phase II studies of novel agents in a network of institutions throughout the Midwest. His work has shown that intense treatment combining radiation and chemotherapy can bring locally advanced head and neck cancer under control and improve survival. Due to his growing reputation, Vokes and a team of scientists helped to treat chef

Grant Achatz Grant Achatz ( ) (born April 25, 1974) is an American chef and restaurateur often recognized for his contributions to molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine. Achatz has won numerous awards from prominent culinary institutions and publication ...

's stage 4

squamous cell carcinoma Squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC), also known as epidermoid carcinoma, comprises a number of different types of cancer that begin in squamous cells. These cells form on the surface of the skin, on the lining of hollow organs in the body, and on the ...

of the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

. On December 18, 2007, Achatz credited his remission due to aggressive protocol of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

administered under the direction of Drs. Vokes, Blair and Haraf. Following this, Vokes was appointed chairman of the Department of Medicine at UChicago Medicine after an intense process of review and consultation with medical leaders within the institution and across the nation. Later in the year, he was also named to two leadership positions at UChicago Medicine; he was named interim chief executive officer of the Medical Center and Dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the

Pritzker School of Medicine The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is the M.D.-granting unit under the Biological Sciences Division of the University of Chicago. It is located on the university's main campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago and mat ...

after James L. Madara stepped down. Vokes is also an elected member of the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...

and was one of two recipients of the new Translational Research Professorship from the

American Society of Clinical Oncology The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is a professional organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer. Founded in 1964 by Fred Ansfield, Harry Bisel, Herman Freckman, Arnoldus G ...

. Later, he was a recipient of a Francis L. Lederer Foundation grant for research on the malignancies of the upper aerodigestive tract. As an oncologist at UChicago Medicine, Vokes formally served as the leader of the Respiratory Committee of the Alliance and sat on various editorial boards for several journals. He also served as chair of the Annual Meeting Education Committee, Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee, and a member of the Conquer Cancer Development and Fundraising Committee, and the Cancer.Net Editorial Board. In 2013, Vokes was named a member of OncLive's inaugural class of “Giants of Cancer Care" for his groundbreaking research into head and neck cancers. They specifically highlighted how his work has shown that intense treatment combining radiation and chemotherapy can bring locally advanced head and neck cancer under control and improve survival. A few years later, he was elected to serve as ASCO's president for the 2021-22 term.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vokes, Everett E. Living people American oncologists University of Bonn alumni University of Chicago faculty 1954 births Members of the American Society for Clinical Investigation