Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, is an attending physician and the director of clinical research in the Division of Lymphoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he also serves as the associate director of the Center for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Dr Davids is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and he attends on the inpatient hematologic malignancies service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After obtaining an AB in chemistry at Harvard College, he completed his MD at Yale School of Medicine. He served as an intern, a resident, and the assistant chief resident in internal medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY. He then completed his fellowship in hematology and oncology at Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare and an MMSc at Harvard Medical School. 

Dr Davids has an active translational research program in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He is focusing on studying apoptosis (in particular, Bcl-2 biology) in his laboratory and leading clinical trials to evaluate novel therapeutic strategies in patients with CLL and other hematologic malignancies. Much of his work has centered on the clinical development of new therapeutic regimens in CLL utilizing combinations of targeted inhibitors of Bcl-2, B-cell receptor pathway kinases, and other novel agents, as well as utilizing checkpoint blockade to enhance antitumor immunity in patients with hematologic malignancies who relapse post allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Susan O'Brien, MD, is the recently retired associate medical director at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine (UCI), and the recently retired medical director at the Sue and Ralph Stern Center for Cancer Clinical Trials and Research, UCI. She is currently a professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, UCI. 

Dr O'Brien received her medical degree from and completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (currently known as the Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences). She completed her oncology fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson) and joined the faculty after completion of her fellowship. When she left MD Anderson in 2015, she was the Ashbel Smith Professor of Medicine in the Department of Leukemia.

She is considered a leading worldwide leukemia expert (expertscape.com), with an H index of 170. She is included in the top 1% of the most highly cited and influential researchers in the world. Dr O'Brien's research is credited for many contributions to the treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Year after year, she is ranked nationally at the top in her field by America's Top Doctors, Super Doctors, and America's Top Doctors for Cancer.

Dr O'Brien has authored more than 900 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has given more than 500 lectures at national and international conferences and academic institutions. She is currently the hematology executive officer for SWOG (formerly known as the Southwest Oncology Group Executive Committee) and a board member of the CLL Society. In 2020, she received the Giants of Cancer Care Award for Leukemia.

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, is professor and medical director for the Department of Leukemia and executive medical director for Leukemia, Lymphoma and Stem Cell Transplant at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr Wierda received his doctorate of philosophy in microbiology and immunology and his medical degree from the University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School. He subsequently completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at the University of California, San Diego.

His research focuses on identifying immunology and immunotherapy strategies for hematologic malignancies, particularly chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). He has served as principal investigator or co-investigator for numerous clinical trials, has lectured nationally and internationally, and has published extensively on clinical and translational aspects of CLL and drug development.

Dr Wierda is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Association of Immunologists. He serves as chair and Value Pathways Task Force member for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network CLL/SLL/Hairy Cell Leukemia Panel. He is also an editorial board member for the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and a scientific review committee member for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Research Program.