Dr. Schilsky earned his M.D. at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 1975. Following a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Memorial Hospital, he received training in Medical Oncology and Clinical Pharmacology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from 1977 to 1981. Dr. Schilsky returned to the University of Chicago in 1984 where he rose to the rank of Professor of Medicine (tenured) and served as Director of the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center (1991-99), as Associate Dean for Clinical Research (1999-2007) and as Chief of the Section of Hematology-Oncology (2009-2012). An international expert in gastrointestinal malignancies and cancer pharmacology Dr. Schilsky served as Chairman of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, an NCI-sponsored national cancer clinical trials group from 1995-2010.

Dr. Schilsky has served on a number of peer review and advisory committees for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) including as a member and chair of the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors and as a member of the Clinical and Translational Research Advisory Committee. He has also served as a member and chair of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration. He presently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, a member of the Board of Directors of Friends of Cancer Research and of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC),  and as a member of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Schilsky has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), ASCO President 2008-2009 and ASCO Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer (2013-2021). 

Dr. Schilsky is Chair Emeritus, WIN Consortium, and Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago.

“WIN is an unique, global, translational clinical research organization with a bold vision to bring cutting edge science and technology to the cure of cancer worldwide. It is a privilege to help guide the organization as Chair Emeritus of the WIN Consortium”.