Dr. Barbara Burtness is Professor of Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine. She is co-leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program, Director of the Head and Neck Clinical Research Program at Yale Cancer Center, Director of the Yale Head and Neck Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence and Interim Associate Cancer Center Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Burtness is an internationally recognized for her clinical and translational research in head and neck cancer. She chairs the ECOG-ACRIN Head and Neck Therapeutics Committee, participates in numerous national guideline committees and has led numerous clinical trials, including the international study which established immune checkpoint inhibition as standard first line therapy in head and neck cancer.