ASCI / Young Physician-Scientist Awards, 2021
The Young Physician-Scientist Awards (YPSA) recognize physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
About the awardee
Yvonne Mowery, MD, PhD, grew up in Richmond and matriculated at the University of Virginia in 2000 as an Echols and Jefferson Scholar. After graduating with a Bachelors of Science with Distinction in 2004, Yvonne joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at Duke University, where she completed her PhD in the laboratory of Salvatore Pizzo, MD, PhD. She graduated in 2012 and continued her training at Duke as an intern in Internal Medicine and resident physician in Radiation Oncology. During residency, she joined the laboratory of David Kirsch, MD, PhD to initiate a new research project evaluating the combination of radiation therapy and immune checkpoint blockade in primary mouse models of soft tissue sarcoma. To facilitate this project, Yvonne developed a novel carcinogen-induced and genetically engineered sarcoma model with high mutational load. Her preclinical studies supported initiation of SU2C-SARC032, a randomized phase II trial evaluating pembrolizumab with neoadjuvant radiotherapy and surgery for high-risk soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity. In 2017, Yvonne joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Duke University. Supported by an ASCO Young Investigator Award, Duke Physician-Scientist Strong Start Award, and Butler-Harris endowed professorship, Yvonne continued her work studying radiation and immunotherapy and developed several novel primary mouse models of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) that serve as the basis for her independent laboratory. Yvonne specializes clinically in treating patients with head and neck cancer, and her laboratory focuses on studying HNSCC pathogenesis and mechanisms of overcoming radiation resistance, with a particular interest in DNA damage response pathways. She is the principal investigator of an NCI-supported phase I clinical trial evaluating an ATR inhibitor with pembrolizumab and reirradiation for recurrent HNSCC. Her research is supported by a K08 from NIDCR and a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award.