Interim Director and Associate Director for Clinical Research
Robert A. Figlin, M.D., F.A.C.P., is interim director of City of Hope's Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he also serves as associate director for clinical research. In addition, Figlin is the Arthur and Rosalie Kaplan Professor of Medical Oncology and chair of the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research.
A nationally recognized leader in genitourinary and thoracic oncology, Figlin focuses his research on renal cell carcinoma and thoracic malignancies. He established and directs the Kidney Cancer Program at City of Hope, which aims to understand the biology of kidney cancer and translate that knowledge into new treatments. His leadership in developing novel anticancer drugs that avoid the toxicity associated with standard treatments furthers City of Hope’s tradition of compassionate patient care. He previously served as the co-principal investigator of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Lung Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE), which he brought to City of Hope as part of the Southern California Lung Cancer Consortium.
Prior to joining City of Hope, Figlin served as the Henry Alvin and Carrie L. Meinhardt Chair in Urologic Oncology and professor of medicine and urology in the divisions of Hematology/Oncology and Urologic Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Figlin joined the UCLA faculty in 1982 as assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and was appointed co-director of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center’s oncology program in 1993. He also held the post of medical director of the Thoracic and Genitourinary Oncology Program in the departments of Medicine, Surgery and Urology, and served as program director of Solid Tumor Development Therapeutics within the cancer center.
Figlin serves as editor for the Kidney Cancer Journal, and his studies have appeared in Clinical Cancer Research, the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Journal of Urology, among others. Figlin received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a fellowship in hematology/oncology the David Geffen School of Medicine. He is board-certified in medical oncology and internal medicine.