July 28, 2025

This month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights our member institution Fred Hutch Cancer Center and Lawrence (Larry) Fong, MD, who serves as scientific director of the Immunotherapy Integrated Research Center at Fred Hutch.

Dr. Fong earned his medical degree from Stanford University, completed residency at the University of Washington, and returned to Stanford for his fellowship. In 2021, he received a National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award. He currently serves on the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors and the board of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. He is also the inaugural Bezos Family Distinguished Scholar in Immunotherapy at Fred Hutch. Outside of work, Dr. Fong enjoys spending time with his family exploring the outdoors through hiking, biking, and skiing.

Research Interests and Expertise:

Throughout his career, Dr. Fong has focused on the development, application, and understanding of immunotherapy for cancer. His research explores the mechanisms of response and resistance to cancer immunotherapies in both preclinical models and in cancer patients. His work has been instrumental in the approval of multiple therapies, including sipuleucel-T for prostate cancer and immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 antibodies.

As director of the IIRC at Fred Hutch, Dr. Fong leads teams in basic, translational, and clinical research, including first-in-human trials of both cellular and non-cellular immunotherapies. His research has been published in various scientific journals, including Cell, Science, Nature, and The New England Journal of Medicine.

“Fred Hutch has been at the center of immunotherapy having pioneered bone marrow transplantation,” Dr. Fong said. “Success with this approach did not come overnight; it took decades. While we have had some great successes in immunotherapy, I believe that progress will require iteration and refining our approaches as we see how they work in our patients. This is a concept ingrained at Fred Hutch.”

About the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium: The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium was created in 2013 to transform the conduct of cancer research through collaborative clinical trials and observational studies that seek to improve the lives of cancer patients in the diverse communities we serve by leveraging the scientific and clinical expertise of Big Ten universities. The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium creates a unique team research culture to drive science rapidly from ideas to treatment and prevention. Within this innovative environment, today’s research leaders collaborate with and mentor the research leaders of tomorrow. Since its founding, the Big Ten CRC has activated nearly 40 clinical trials across a wide range of cancer types, more than 1,000 participants have enrolled in Big Ten CRC studies, and more than 500 researchers have joined Big Ten CRC Clinical Trial Working Groups.

About the Big Ten Conference: The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional, and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 18 Big Ten institutions provide direct financial support for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.