Maura Gillison, who identified the role of HPV in head and neck cancer, changing the standard of care, dies at 61 - The Cancer Letter Skip to navigation Skip to content

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Maura Gillison, who identified the role of HPV in head and neck cancer, changing the standard of care, dies at 61

July 02, 2026<br>Vol.52 No.26

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Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and molecular epidemiologist whose work changed the standard of care for head and neck cancer by distinguishing human papillomavirus-positive from HPV-negative disease and thereby guiding diagnosis, treatment and prevention, died on June 21.

Gillison, a professor of medicine, thoracic head and neck medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, was 61.<br>Gillison, who had been diagnosed with small bowel cancer, died at her childhood home in Willoughby, OH, with her family at her side, her husband, David E. Symer, said.<br>&ldquo;Maura was fearless, brilliant, and exceedingly compassionate, all in one package,&rdquo; Sue Yom, NRG Oncology Head & Neck Cancer Committee chair and RTOG Foundation Head & Neck Cancer Committee chair, said in an announcement of Gillison&rsquo;s death to that group&rsquo;s members. &ldquo;She was a genius who decided to spend her career dedicated to improving the lives of people with head and neck cancer. For that, and for her tender, entertaining, and inspiring friendship, I and countless others are profoundly grateful.&rdquo;<br>A portrait of Maura Gillison upon winning the 2025 VinFuture Grand Prize.<br>Art credit: VinFuture Foundation.<br>In 2021, Gillison received the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award, the highest honor of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She is also a recipient of the prestigious VinFuture Grand Prize, which she shared in December 2025 with NCI&rsquo;s Douglas R. Lowy, John T. Schiller, and Aim&eacute;e R. Kreimer.

&ldquo;Maura Gillison&rsquo;s untimely passing at 61 is a blow to the cancer research community, including me,&rdquo; Lowy, NCI principal deputy director, said to The Cancer Letter. &ldquo;She was a visionary leader whose research focused on HPV-positive oropharynx cancer and her many patients. Dr. Gillison&rsquo;s 2000 paper on this entity was immediately accepted as seminal because she found HPV in metastases in addition to the primary tumors. She then became a major contributor to what has been learned in the past 25 years about this condition.&rdquo;<br>&ldquo;Maura began making major impactful contributions while still in training. She totally changed our understanding of the etiology of head and neck cancer and demonstrated that one person can make a difference,&rdquo; Otis W. Brawley, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Oncology and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, said to The Cancer Letter.<br>Gillison was an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians.<br>&ldquo;She was a true genius and perhaps the most impactful head and neck medical oncologist in history,&rdquo; said John Heymach, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology chair at MD Anderson. &ldquo;She was also an amazing physician, mother, and colleague who cared deeply and worked tirelessly toward making breakthroughs that helped patients.&rdquo;<br>MD Anderson President Peter WT Pisters described Gillison as a &ldquo;visionary scientist and compassionate physician who, through her landmark discoveries around HPV, reshaped the course of head and neck cancer research and care.

&ldquo;We mourn the loss of an extraordinary colleague and leader, while celebrating a legacy that will continue to inspire discovery, advance patient care and improve lives for generations to come,&rdquo; Pisters said to The Cancer Letter.<br>Gillison was born in Canada, one of four children of Robert and Marvis Gillison. Her family lived in multiple locations throughout the U.S. and Mexico during her childhood. The family settled in Ohio in 1974, where she attended Hathaway Brown School, graduating in 1983.<br>She graduated from Duke University in 1987, summa cum laude, after spending a life-transforming year studying at Oxford University. She received her MD degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1991.<br>There she met David, in the combined MD/PhD program at Hopkins. They married in 1992 in Baltimore.<br>Gillison performed postdoctoral research work in the laboratory of Chi Van Dang, then completed medical internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. After completing medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, she...