Paul Sweicicki, MD

My career is dedicated to reducing cancer’s burden on patients through translational research and collaborative clinical trials. My clinical and research interests are primarily in head and neck cancer and early-stage therapeutics. These interests stem from the remarkable heterogeneity tumor biology and patient outcomes within a single disease entity, paired with often ineffective therapeutics. My research has focused on development of novel therapeutics for advanced head and neck cancer, biomarker development, and treatment de-escalation strategies in patients with low-risk human papillomavirus related oropharyngeal cancer. My career began by studying small molecule inhibitors in metastatic head and neck cancer which led to development of numerous funded multi-institution investigator initiated clinical trials as a PI. Development of these trials has equipped me with the necessary administrative skills needed for collaborative science including multi-institutional communication, budgeting, and regulatory management. I am the PI of a pivotal multisite investigator-initiated registration trial evaluating MDM-2 inhibition in metastatic salivary gland cancer as well as a co-PI of the NCI iMATCH Feasibility Study S2101 investigating biomarker stratified treatment of advanced solid tumors. Given my research experience, involvement with the head and neck community, and translational research I was appointed to the NCI Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Task Force. In the Spring of 2020, I was also appointed as Co-Director of the University of Michigan Experimental Therapeutics/Phase 1 Program.

1) Novel therapeutics and treatment strategies for advanced / metastatic diseases including head and neck cancer.
2) Biomarker development in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
3) Tumor immune microenvironment modulation in advanced head and neck cancer.