Terence (Terry) Williams, MD, PhD is a physician-scientist, Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology, Secondary Professor in the Department of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, as well as the Co-Director of the Solid Tumor Program at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Williams received his MD and PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM)/Montefiore, and completed his residency training at the University of Michigan. His faculty career began at the Ohio State University where he was promoted to Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Translational  Research, and Division Director of thoracic and hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) radiation therapy in the Department of Radiation Oncology.  He joined City of Hope in 2021, where he also maintains an active clinical practice treating patients with thoracic and gastrointestinal cancers.  In clinical research, he has led or co-led multi-disciplinary scientific teams in many phase I, II, and III trials in gastrointestinal, lung, and other solid tumors to advance cancer therapies through innovative radiation approaches or novel experimental therapeutics, including small molecule inhibitors, immunotherapy, and oncolytic virus.  Dr. Williams’ laboratory studies intrinsic and acquired molecular mechanisms leading to resistance to cancer therapy, including mechanisms downstream of oncogenes, with the goal to identify new strategies to achieve tumor-selective sensitization to radiation and genotoxic therapies.   To that end, a major focus of his laboratory is uncovering novel DNA repair tumor dependencies that can be exploited for cancer therapy using various hypothesis-driven and unbiased approaches.  Additionally, his laboratory studies the process of how tumors scavenge for nutrients through endocytosis for optimal tumor metabolism and growth.  Dr. Williams has served in leadership roles for the NIH, NCI, ASTRO, and NCTN cooperative groups, and has trained numerous students, residents, and post-doctoral fellows. He enjoys building scientific teams and training the next generation of physicians and scientists.