Precision Medicine Specialist Joins The Angeles Clinic

Hematologist-oncologist Navid Hafez, MD, MPH, has joined The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai Cancer, as director of Precision Medicine and Thoracic Oncology. Hafez will focus on clinical research programs to develop molecular and targeted therapies to treat cancers of the chest cavity, including lung cancers. He also will provide care for patients with thoracic cancer.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Hafez to The Angeles Clinic and Cedars-Sinai Cancer,” said Omid Hamid, MD, chief of Translational Research and Immuno-Oncology at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, and medical director of the Cutaneous Malignancies Disease Research Group at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. “He employs innovative, biomarker-driven targeted and immune therapies to provide top-notch care to patients, and his work to advance the science of precision medicine through clinical trials will benefit patients beyond our institutions.”

Hafez said he was motivated to join the field of thoracic oncology by the science, the team approach to research and patient care, and the opportunity to care for patients.

“I enjoy working with patients across a range of life experiences, and that is readily seen in thoracic cancers, which can affect anyone,” he said. “Thoracic cancers, like the patients they affect, are also diverse. Some require biomarker-driven molecular therapies, some benefit from immune-centered therapies, and some require a combination, and this gives us the opportunity to evaluate novel therapeutic strategies.”

Hafez comes to The Angeles Clinic from Yale School of Medicine where, as assistant professor in the Department of Medicine (Medical Oncology), he contributed to the growth of the Early Therapeutics Division of the Section of Medical Oncology. He has been named principal investigator of several national studies in the National Cancer Institute’s Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network.  

“I’m excited to work with the wonderful team of providers across the Cedars-Sinai Cancer network,” Hafez said. “While at Yale, I often collaborated with the team at The Angeles Clinic on multi-institutional studies. They are respected around the world, as evidenced by the number of international trials and conferences they participate in, and the number of patients who come to Cedars-Sinai and The Angeles Clinic seeking leading-edge care.”

Hafez earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and he completed an internal medicine internship and residency and a fellowship in hematology-oncology at Yale New Haven Hospital.

The recipient of numerous research grants, Hafez has authored or co-authored nearly 30 publications, book chapters, presentations and abstracts covering a range of thoracic malignancies—from non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer to mesothelioma—and other areas of interest, including immune toxicity, precision medicine and biomarkers.

He is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.  

“Dr. Hafez’s expertise in precision medicine and thoracic oncology, both as a clinician and researcher, is a tremendous asset,” said Karen Reckamp, MD, associate director of Clinical Research at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. “We look forward to collaborating with him in evaluating novel therapeutic strategies that can bring new, more effective treatment options to patients with thoracic cancers.”

Hafez also works to address diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical trials and said he is committed to expanding access to leading-edge therapies to underrepresented populations. 

“The breakthroughs we make at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute will improve outcomes for patients of all backgrounds and nationalities—here in the U.S. and around the world,” he said.

Read more on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Should I Get a Lung Cancer Screening?