James S. Economou, M.D., Ph.D.

James S. Economou, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

James Economou received all of his education at Johns Hopkins and completed training in general surgery at UCSF. He joined the UCLA faculty in 1986 where he has remained for his entire career. He is currently the Distinguished Beaumont Professor of Surgery; Distinguished Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics; and Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. He served as Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology (18 years), Deputy Director of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (8 years), Founding Director of the UCLA Human Gene Medicine Program (14 years), and UCLA Vice Chancellor for Research (5 years). He has received over two decades of NIH support for research programs in tumor immunology and has over 100 publications. He was the 65th President of the Society of Surgical Oncology, 136th President of the American Surgical Association, and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. He was one of the scientific founders of Kite Pharma.