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Curie EditorialMarch 2026
Rising Voices in Oncology
A curated look at the oncologists shaping the next era of cancer care — through research, advocacy, and digital influence.
How We Chose This List
This feature is curated by Curie's editorial team using a combination of publicly visible signals — including academic citation trends, social media engagement on LinkedIn and X, conference presence, and peer recognition — alongside our own editorial judgment about who is meaningfully shaping the oncology conversation right now.
A note on methodology: This is a directional, non-exhaustive editorial feature — not a definitive ranking. Inclusion reflects publicly visible influence and editorial selection. Many exceptional oncologists are doing vital work beyond the scope of this list.
The 2026 List
Oncologists to Watch
Marla Lipsyc-Sharf
One of the few voices actively focused on breast cancer in young women — her research on fertility, treatment timing, pregnancy after diagnosis, and circulating tumor DNA monitoring is filling a long-neglected gap in the field.
Eric Vick
Recognized with both an ASCO Young Investigator Award and an LLS Career Development Award, his focus on unlocking new combination treatments for AML — targeting IRAK4 and related proteins — is drawing serious attention in the blood cancer field.
Lawson Eng
Holding the Hold'Em for Life Early Career Professorship in Cancer Research and serving as Ontario Health's Regional Smoking Cessation Lead, he's become a leading architect of tobacco cessation programs inside oncology clinics — building the evidence base and the clinical systems to actually deliver tobacco cessation at scale.
Nabil Adra
Named to IBJ's Forty Under 40 and called a "world leader in genitourinary oncology" by Einhorn himself, he brings rare range to a complex disease space — from testicular and prostate to bladder and kidney cancer — while leading one of the most active GU clinical trial programs at Indiana University.
Daniel V. Araujo
One of oncology's methodical innovators — his work in early-phase clinical trial design and drug dose optimization is helping close the gap between promising compounds and treatments that actually work in the clinic, spanning GU cancers, melanoma, and beyond.
James Bates
A radiation oncologist operating at two frontiers simultaneously — advancing proton therapy for lymphoma to reduce long-term toxicity, while pioneering ctDNA-guided approaches for head and neck cancer to inform how radiation decisions get made.
Kimberly Ku
Named a 2024 American Cancer Society ResearcHER Ambassador and recognized among her region's top leaders under 40, she's one of oncology's rare triple-board certified community physicians — bringing cutting-edge pancreatic cancer early detection research to patients in Central Illinois who would otherwise never access it.
Brittany Knick Ragon
Trained at MD Anderson and backed by NIH and Leukemia Research Foundation grants, she's one of the sharper early-phase trial minds in blood cancer — leading novel therapy studies for AML and MDS while using genomic informatics to uncover why some patients respond and others don't.
Nina Sanford
A Harvard-trained radiation oncologist and Chief of GI Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern, she's one of the most forward-looking voices in the field — leading the INNATE trial, a novel combination of short-course radiation, chemotherapy, and CD40 immunotherapy for rectal cancer that is redefining what radiation can do in GI oncology.
Umang Swami
A Huntsman Translational Scholar and SWOG Vogelzang Award recipient, he's one of GU oncology's most driven young investigators — with 5,600+ citations, an NCCN guidelines panel seat, and multiple active trials pushing treatment forward for metastatic prostate and bladder cancers.