Naoto T Ueno (born March 1964) was a Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; his research is in the area of inflammatory breast cancer and the molecular mechanism of metastasis and tumorigenicity. Ueno was also a visiting professor with the Keio University.[1]

Naoto T Ueno
BornMarch 29, 1964
Kyoto, Japan
Academic background
Doctoral advisorMien-Chie Hung
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center

He moved from MD Anderson Cancer Center to the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center as a director on December 12, 2022. His vision is to address the health disparity in Hawaiʻi and US Affiliated Pacific Islands through transformative research. Furthermore his goal is to make sure that no one needs to leave the islands to receive high-quality of care regardless of their financial background. He currently practice at Queenʻs Medical Center and Kapiolani Chidren and Womenʻs Hospital.


He is a breast medical oncologist who specializes in inflammatory, triple-negative, and metastatic breast cancer. He is best known for his preclinical development of E1A gene therapy and multiple preclinical developments, which led to novel clinical trials related to inflammatory and triple-negative breast cancer.

He is well known for both his passion and commitment to cancer research and for his compassion for taking care of advanced breast cancer. He is currently[when?] studying cancer metastasis, MAPK/EGFR pathways, and cancer microenvironment. He was the executive director of the Morgan Welch Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program and Clinic and Section Chief of the Translational Breast Cancer Research at the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The Univeristy of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

He was invited to talk about patient empowerment at the Tokyo TEDx in 2011.

As a two-time cancer survivor, he is committed to patient empowerment and the development of multidisciplinary care. He is the founder of the Japan TeamOnclogy Program and CancerX. Learning from Asia, especially from Japan, to enhance team approach in oncology has shown success of bringing in novel approaches to tackle difficult team development in Asia countries.


Awards edit

  • 1995-1996 Clinical Fellow Research Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • 1996 Cancer Research Achievement Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • 1996 Houston Endowment, Jesse H. Jones Fellowship in Cancer Education
  • 1996 Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research Award, Pharmacia and Upjohn
  • 1998 American Association Cancer Research-Glaxo Wellcome Oncology Clinical Research Scholar Award for Promising Translation or Clinical Research, Glaxo Wellcome
  • 2008 6th Robert M. Chamberlain Distinguished Mentor Award Nomination (Top Three Finalist), MD Anderson
  • 2011 Amgen Basic Research Award, 2nd Prize for Mentoring, MDACC
  • 2013 Regent's Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Texas
  • 2013 Bradley Stuart Beller Special Merit ASCO Merit Award for Hiroko Masusda, MD, PhD (Mentee)
  • 2018 Rune for the Cure Foundation. Unknown Hero Award.

References edit

  1. ^ "Naoto Tada Ueno, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P. - Breast Medical Oncology - Faculty - MD Anderson Cancer Center". University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Retrieved December 25, 2011.