Jonathan S. Berek, MD, MMS
Stanford University School of Medicine
Laurie Kraus Lacob Professor
Stanford University School of Medicine
Director, Stanford Women’s Cancer Center
Senior Advisor, Stanford Cancer Institute
Jonathan S. Berek MD, MMS, is the Laurie Kraus Lacob Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and a recent past Fellow in the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute. He helped establish and is the Director of the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center, which is one of the first programs in the nation to combine breast and gynecologic oncology with a women’s cancer translational research, genetics, and supportive services programs. He serves as Senior Advisor, Stanford Cancer Institute, and served as Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 2005-2017.
A Stanford faculty member since 2005, he is renowned for his expertise in gynecologic oncology, surgical innovation and technique, and research in ovarian cancer, especially immunology and immunotherapy. His past laboratory research focused on fundamental mechanisms of cancer immunology, elucidating growth regulatory pathways for cytokines and their receptors. His current research focuses on clinical trials of novel therapies and immunotherapies for ovarian cancer and collaborations on new diagnostics, screening techniques, and genetics.
An author and editor, Dr. Berek has published more than 320 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the scientific literature, and an equal number of book chapters and monographs. His books, Berek & Hacker’s Gynecologic Oncology, now in its 6th edition, and Berek & Novak’s Gynecology, in its 16th edition, are leading texts in the field. He serves as Editor-in-Chief for Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology, and immediate past Editor-in-Chief of ASCO Connection.
Professor Berek has extensive involvement and many leadership roles in national and global cancer activities. He is the Past President of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society, and he is one of two representatives from the USA to the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) Gynecologic Oncology Committee, which is responsible for the staging of gynecologic cancers, and he is the Chair of the FIGO Subcommittee on Cervical Cancer. He serves as a Principal Investigator on the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG), the premiere international consortium of 32 cooperative clinical cancer trials groups. He is the Group Chair of the Cooperative Oncologic Gynecology Investigators (COGI), a member group of the GCIG. He is the Chair of the GCIG Education Committee, a member of the Steering Committee for the Cervical Cancer Research Network (CCRN), a group that develops programs for the treatment and clinical research on cervical cancer in limited resourced countries. On behalf of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), he is the senior author of the international resource-stratified guidelines for the management of cervical cancer, which provides direction for basic and limited levels of cancer care for women in developing countries.
Professor Berek received his undergraduate degree in English literature and theatre arts, and a Master of Medical Sciences degree in biomedical sciences from Brown University. After earning his Doctor of Medicine from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he completed an internship and residency at the Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Before moving to Stanford, he was on the faculty at the UCLA School of Medicine for over two decades, where he served as the Chair of the College of Applied Anatomy, Chief of Staff of the UCLA Medical Center, departmental Executive Vice Chair, and Director of Gynecologic Oncology.
In 2003, Dr. Berek received the highly prestigious Sherman Mellinkoff Award from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In 2012, he was presented the John C. Fremont Pathfinder Award, given in recognition of significant contributions to society made by a native Nebraskan. Dr. Berek is the 2019 Honoree of the American Cancer Society for his many accomplishments in women’s cancer treatment and research.