This month, Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN) features our member The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Peter H. O’Donnell, MD, deputy director, Center for Personalized Therapeutics; associate director, Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics Fellowship Program; and associate director, Paul Calabresi Oncology Training Program (K12) at The University of Chicago.

Research Interests and Expertise:

Dr. O’Donnell is a translational researcher with advanced training in clinical pharmacology and a practicing medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of genitourinary malignancies, specifically bladder cancer.

Dr. O’Donnell has served as institutional principal investigator for more than 20 therapeutic clinical trials in urothelial (bladder) cancer, and co-authored publications from these studies that led to four FDA drug approvals of new therapies for urothelial cancer since 2016 (atezolizumab, durvalumab, pembrolizumab, and enfortumab vedotin).

Dr. O’Donnell’s research also focuses on facilitating and understanding the delivery and adoption of germline genetic markers that predict drug response (pharmacogenomics). He is especially interested in assessing whether the critical mass of clinically actionable germline pharmacogenomic information can be utilized in practice if barriers to implementation can be overcome.

At the University of Chicago, Dr. O’Donnell is an original member of the Center for Personalized Therapeutics (deputy director) and a member of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Program on Clinical Pharmacogenomics and Experimental Therapeutics. Nationally, Dr. O’Donnell is the Pharmacogenomics and Population Pharmacology Committee representative to the Genitourinary Committee of The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology.

Dr. O’Donnell has been recognized for outstanding contributions to research and education by being awarded the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Presidential Training Award, American Association of Cancer Researchers Future Leaders in Translational Medicine Award, Early Career Development Award by the Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research, and induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Beta Chapter of the Pritzker School of Medicine and the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators at The University of Chicago. Nationally, he is also past-chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Educational background:

• Medical School: University of Chicago
• Internal Medicine Internship: University of North Carolina
• Internal Medicine Residency: University of Chicago
• Hematology/Oncology Fellowship: University of Chicago
• Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics Fellowship: University of Chicago

Facts about Dr. O’Donnell:

• I have four children.
• I enjoy coaching one of my son’s baseball teams.
• I enjoy running.

About Hoosier Cancer Research Network:

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has conducted more than 210 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 350 publications. More than 8,500 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.