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Front row from left: Reza Amani, George Weiner, Sue Blackwell, Caitlin Miltner-Lemke
Back row from left: Jyoti Arora, Ainsley Bartz, Suresh Veeramani, Travis Fischer, Chaobo Yin, Matthew Ahlers, Gregory Kirkpatrick
Welcome to the Weiner Lab!
Dr. George Weiner is a physician-scientist who has been on the faculty at the University of Iowa since 1989. He was appointed Director of the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1999 and served in that role until April of 2023 when he stepped down from this administrative role to focus on his research efforts. As Cancer Center Director, he led the Cancer Center to NCI designation and comprehensive status and renewed that status 4 times. He remains a full-time faculty member at the University of Iowa.
In addition to his 23 years as Director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Weiner served as Principal Investigator and co-director of the Iowa/Mayo Lymphoma Specialized Program of Research Excellence in collaboration with his colleague, Dr. Thomas Witzig, from the Mayo clinic, from 2002 until 2022. Other national leadership roles included serving as President of the Association of American Cancer Institutes and as Chair of the NCI committee that reviews the nations cancer centers. He also chaired the external advisory boards of multiple other cancer centers around the country and continues to serve in this role for a number of cancer centers. He remains active in cancer research, cancer immunotherapy, cancer advocacy and as a consultant.
At the University of Iowa, he currently serves as:
- Dr. C.E. Block Chair of Cancer Research
- Professor of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine
- Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy
- Director Emeritus, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dr. Weiner is a member of the University of Iowa graduate programs in Immunology, Cancer Biology and Toxicology.
Dr. George Weiner’s translational research centers on the relationship between the tumor microenvironment and cancer immunotherapy. This includes laboratory projects exploring novel approaches to cancer immunotherapy and evaluation of the mechanisms of response and resistance to cancer. The laboratory uses molecular and cellular techniques as well as model systems and is extensively involved in analysis of correlative clinical samples. It serves as a translational hub for a broad range of collaborative cancer immunotherapy projects taking place at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.