Charles A. Kunos, MD, PhD

Charles Kunos, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Radiation Medicine at the University of Kentucky. He received his medical and doctorate degrees from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He undertook radiation oncology training at the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at University Hospitals of Cleveland. He ran a radiobiology laboratory focused on the science of ribonucleotide reductase and its pharmacological inhibition by triapine using uterine cervix cancer preclinical models. He was the principal investigator for the NCI-sponsored phase I and II clinical trials of triapine radiochemotherapy for women with advanced stage uterine cervix cancer, which demonstrated very high overall response rates and progression-free survival.

Dr. Kunos joined NCI in 2016. He provided scientific review, develops and implements clinical trials, and monitors adverse events for a diverse drug portfolio involving experimental therapeutic agents that manipulate DNA damage responses by themselves or in combination with radiation therapy. He led NCI’s team that was granted Food & Drug Administration Orphan Drug Designation and Fast Track Designation for triapine in combination with cisplatin-radiation therapy for treatment of women with advanced stage uterine cervix cancer. He received a 2018 NCI Director’s Award for leading a team that improved uterine cervix cancer patient clinical trial access within Puerto Rico’s NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). He directed a team responsible for the first-ever CTEP clinical development program for radiopharmaceuticals.