pic_heather_wakelee_2Dr. Wakelee is a clinical investigator with a focus in lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. Along with her other colleagues in thoracic medical oncology at Stanford she is focused on clinical trials with agents that are specifically targeted to known mutations in lung cancer. These trials focus on EGFR targeted agents, and drugs which overcome resistance to traditional EGFR targeted drugs. She is also focusing on Met targeted drugs such as onartuzumab, tivantinib and cabozantinib. Earlier work on anti-angiogenesis agents continues as well. Dr. Wakelee is an active member of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and is the prinicipal investigator of a large adjuvant trial for patients with completely resected lung cancer who are randomized to chemotherapy or chemotherapy plus bevacizumab. Thymic malignancies are an understudied rare disease and Dr. Wakelee has developed 2 clinical trials in this patient population. She serves as the chair of the research working group of the International Thymic Malignancies Interest Group (ITMIG) and is working to further expand the research portfolio in this patient population.

Dr. Wakelee is also involved in several collaborative efforts with her colleagues in thoracic surgery and radiation oncology (a multi-disciplinary trial for stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients and cyberknife protocols for early stage patients not eligible for surgery), as well as in pulmonary medicine (analysis of blood samples for circulating lung tumor cells and other basic science projects). She has active collaborations with population scientists at CPIC looking at lung cancer related questions. She is also very focused on exploring lung cancer questions in the Women’s Health Initiative through collaborations with Marcia Stefanick.