Medical Oncologist, The Oregon Clinic
Dr. Walter Urba has dedicated his professional life to combating cancer. He divides his time between caring for individual patients and focusing on groundbreaking research in cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Urba’s inspiration to pursue oncology and research came when his own mother was diagnosed with cancer.
After completing his Ph.D. in immunology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Urba earned a medical degree from the University of Miami (Florida) and completed his residency at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey. He performed a fellowship in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland. He applied his expertise in immunology and oncology at the NCI Biological Response Modifiers Program.
In 1993, Providence Health & Services recruited Dr. Urba from the NCI to develop a world-class cancer research program.
- For more than two decades, Dr. Urba has been working with scientists and clinicians to develop immunotherapy as a fourth modality to treat cancer (in addition to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy). Immunotherapy involves activating a patient’s own immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells.
- Under his guidance, the Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center has grown to include four senior scientists with Ph.D.s and three research clinicians, and to acquire more than $2.6 million annually in federal grants.
- With approval pending from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Urba is the lead principal investigator for the Franz Cancer Center’s immunotherapy research involving OX40, a protein found on white blood cells.
- He received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Award of Merit "for the first cytokine therapy capable of significantly accelerating platelet recovery after high-dose chemotherapy."
- Dr. Urba serves on the Journal of Immunotherapy editorial board; the FDA Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; and the NIH Grant Review Committee. He has authored more than 175 papers.
"The immune system is very specific; it has a very effective way of targeting abnormal cells and leaving normal cells alone. Approaching tumors biologically and scientifically, based on what we know is wrong with the tumor cells -- then eradicating them or fixing the problem – is the treatment of the future."