Nelson Chao, MD, MBA

Nelson J. Chao, MD, MBA is the Donald D. and Elizabeth G. Cooke Professor in Cancer Research. He is a professor of medicine and immunology and chief of the Division of Cellular Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplant at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is also Director of Global Cancer in the Duke Global Health Institute. Dr. Chao received his BA, cum laude from Harvard University, and his medical degree, with honors, from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He completed his residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in oncology at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, California. Dr. Chao also earned an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Dr. Chao’s research focuses on stem cell biology, understanding and preventing graft-versus-host disease, improving immune reconstitution, and mitigation of radiation toxicities. More recently he has been involved in establishing the efforts of global cancer for Duke University. In addition to his many laboratory and clinical responsibilities, Dr. Chao is the co-director of the Clinical Stem Cell Transplantation Laboratory.

Dr. Chao has served on numerous national boards throughout his career. He currently is a council member of NIAID, NIH, and the chair of the Grant Review Committee for the Gateway for Cancer Research. He also serves on the editorial boards of Blood, Journal of Immunology, and is associate editor of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Dr. Chao is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. For his scientific and research efforts, Dr. Chao has received numerous honors and awards including election to the Association of American Physicians in 2006 and Best Abstract awards from the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the Tandem Bone Marrow Transplantation Meeting. He is also the co-founder of Aldagen and C2 Regenerate, biotechnology companies in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.