Dr. El-Deiry is an American Cancer Society Professor, Mencoff Family University Professor of Medical Science at Brown, Founding Director of the Legorreta Cancer Center (emeritus, July 2026), inaugural Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at Brown (emeritus, July 2026) and practicing physician-scientist in GI Oncology and Precision Oncology at Brown University Health.

El-Deiry’s discoveries have shaped the fields of tumor suppression, cell death signaling, and cancer therapeutics. He elucidated the genomic DNA-binding consensus sequence for the p53 tumor suppressor, published in Nature Genetics in 1992, and went on to discover p21(WAF1) as a p53 target gene and cell cycle inhibitor — the first mammalian CDK inhibitor identified, and the work that opened the path to the CDK inhibitor drugs now in clinical use. That 1993 paper in Cell was the most-cited original article in the journal for over two decades. He discovered TRAIL receptor DR5 as a p53 target and identified ONC201/TIC10 (dordaviprone), a first-in-class small molecule that activates TRAIL-mediated cancer cell death. He founded Oncoceutics, the company that licensed the compound, and in August 2025, the drug received FDA approval for recurrent H3K27M-mutant diffuse glioma — over two decades from bench to bedside. His laboratory continues to develop agents that restore p53 pathway signaling in tumors carrying mutant p53. He is a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors.

He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers, edited eight books, and ranks among the most highly cited cancer researchers worldwide (121,426 citations; H-index 136 in September 2026 according to Google Scholar).

Dr. El-Deiry held leadership roles as co-program leader for Radiobiology & Imaging at the Abramson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at Penn State University and Deputy Director for Translational Research at Fox Chase Cancer Center before being recruited to Brown by the end of 2018.

In the current phase of his career Dr. El-Deiry is leading the WIN Consortium in Precision Oncology, growing a Center of Excellence in Precision Oncology at Brown and is committed to supporting the biotechnology ecosystem in Rhode Island. In this regard he is advancing biotech startups p53-Therapeutics, SMURF-Therapeutics, Resurrect-Therapeutics and building a venture fund Wampanoag Ventures while earning a Physician MBA at Indiana University. He continues to conduct competitive funded research at Brown and support the careers of trainees and colleagues. Dr. El-Deiry is serving a term as the elected Secretary of the Faculty at Brown University for 2026-2027.