Dr. D. Neil Hayes Recognized as Fellow of American Society of Clinical Oncology

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center's reputation for advancing cancer research and patient care has received national recognition with the selection of D. Neil Hayes, MD, Harriet S. Van Vleet Endowed Professor in Medical Oncology and director of the Center for Cancer Research, as a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO).

Dr. Hayes is the first UT Health Science Center physician to receive the FASCO title. It is one of the highest recognitions given by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to distinguished oncology clinicians, scientists, educators, and policy leaders. ASCO is the world's leading professional organization for physicians and researchers dedicated to conquering cancer.

"To be selected as a Fellow of ASCO is deeply humbling," Dr. Hayes said. "ASCO has been the cornerstone of oncology progress for decades, and to be recognized among a select group of leaders worldwide is both an honor and a responsibility."

Fellows are selected based on sustained and exceptional volunteer service, scientific leadership, and commitment to advancing the field of cancer care. Fewer than 800 oncologists worldwide have the FASCO title, underscoring the extraordinary contributions required to attain it. Dr. Hayes is one of 19 Fellows in Tennessee and one of two in West Tennessee who specialize in adult oncology.

"I am especially proud to bring this distinction to Memphis, where we are working to expand opportunities for cancer care and discovery," Dr. Hayes said. "I am happy to do this for the city of Memphis, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and our great partnership with Regional One Health, in which we are transforming what was a safety net hospital into the destination for specialty care in western Tennessee and Alabama, northern Mississippi, southern Kentucky and Missouri, and eastern Arkansas."

Dr. Hayes leads UT Health Science Center's Center for Cancer Research with a mission to improve the health and well-being of Tennesseans and the global community by fostering integrated and collaborative cancer education, research, scientific discovery, clinical care, and public service. Cancer researchers at UT Health Science Center work every day to better understand the disease at the molecular level, fueling the development of new drugs to treat cancer and tests that help doctors detect cancer earlier. UT Health Science Center researchers also collaborate with clinicians at partner hospitals statewide to translate discoveries into patient care, while leading programs that connect people to the cancer services they need.

Dr. Hayes's selection as an ASCO Fellow is due in large part to his leadership in precision medicine, such as the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study, a groundbreaking ASCO-sponsored clinical trial that explored how molecular profiling can guide the use of targeted therapies in real-world cancer care. TAPUR was among the first large-scale "basket trials," designed to match patients with therapies based on specific genetic alterations in their tumors rather than cancer type alone. Through his contributions to the study, Dr. Hayes helped establish the framework for personalized, molecularly driven cancer medicine - work that continues to inform clinical practice and improve patient outcomes worldwide. His involvement exemplifies the kind of service and scientific leadership FASCO was designed to honor.

Dr. Hayes is an internationally recognized expert in head and neck cancer and lung cancer genomics, and he was a key contributor to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a groundbreaking project containing data that has led to improvements in the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, which have been cited over 170,000 times, making him one of the most highly cited living researchers in Tennessee.