Seth M. Pollack, MD, Professor with Tenure at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is an internationally recognized physician-scientist in cancer immunotherapy and sarcoma research. He serves as the Steven T. Rosen Professor of Cancer Biology, Director of the Sarcoma Program, and Co-Leader of the Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Initiative at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Pollack’s career has been defined by pioneering translational research aimed at overcoming resistance to T cell–based therapies. He has led the development of multiple investigator-initiated clinical trials, including first-in-human studies of NY-ESO-1 specific T cells, cytokine-based strategies, and novel immunotherapy/radiation combinations. His laboratory has worked to overcome mechanisms of immune evasion in “immune-cold” sarcoma subtypes, such as MHC class I down-regulation, and translated these findings into therapeutic strategies using cytokine based strategies, toll-like receptors and rational checkpoint inhibitor combinations.

As national chair for ECOG-ACRIN’s EA7222, a randomized phase III trial of doxorubicin plus pembrolizumab for advanced undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, Dr. Pollack is shaping the next generation of standard-of-care therapy. His current NIH- and DoD-funded projects span TCR-therapy optimization, IL-12 gene delivery, NK cell–directed therapies, and tumor microenvironment modulation.

A committed leader in the field, Dr. Pollack has served on the NCCN Soft Tissue Sarcoma and GIST Guidelines Panels, the National Leiomyosarcoma Foundation Executive Committee, and the medical advisory boards of the Sarcoma Alliance and the Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation. He is Senior Editor for Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, an invited author of the Journal of Clinical Oncology sarcoma immunotherapy review, and a frequent speaker at major international meetings.

Dr. Pollack’s work exemplifies the integration of cutting-edge translational laboratory discovery with innovative clinical trial design, advancing the frontier of immunotherapy for rare and treatment-resistant cancers, and improving outcomes for patients worldwide.