Molly E Heft Neal, MD

My clinical interests include the complex set of head and neck cancers comprised of HPV mediated oropharyngeal tumors, HPV negative tumors of the oropharynx, oral cavity, hypopharynx, and larynx as well as salivary gland tumors, sinonasal tumors and advanced cutaneous malignancies. I also specialize in robotic surgery for oropharyngeal tumors and in reconstructive surgery to restore form and function for patients undergoing cancer treatment.

My research interests focus on translational questions in head and neck oncology. Specific areas of focus include understanding the how hypoxia drives radiation and chemoradiation failure in HPV-mediated oropharyngeal tumors and predictors of failure in larynx cancer in patients undergoing organ preserving therapy. Utilizing novel techniques including liquid biopsies and single cell sequencing, our group is striving to better understand the tumor microenvironment, tumor mutational signatures, and immune landscape that predict treatment failure. From a clinical perspective my research focuses on outcomes of HPV-mediated treatments in the setting of ongoing de-escalation trials to improve predictions of functional outcomes such as speech and swallowing after treatment.