Marina Chiara Garassino, MD, is a Professor of Medicine and Director of Thoracic Programs in the Section of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago. An internationally recognized thoracic medical oncologist, she specializes in the care of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), mesothelioma, and thymic malignancies.
Dr. Garassino received her medical degree and completed her oncology training at the Università degli Studi di Milano, followed by clinical fellowships at San Raffaele Scientific Institute, the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (INT) in Milan, and Christie’s Hospital in Manchester (UK). Before joining UChicago in 2021, she served as Chief of the Medical Thoracic Oncology Unit at INT Milan, one of Europe’s leading comprehensive cancer centers. She also holds a Master’s in Oncology Management from Bocconi University, reflecting her longstanding interest in redesigning cancer care pathways.
Her research has helped reshape global standards of care in lung cancer. She was global Principal Investigator of the pivotal KEYNOTE-189 trial, which established chemo-immunotherapy as a first-line standard for metastatic NSCLC, and a leading investigator in landmark studies such as PACIFIC and KEYNOTE-671 that integrated immunotherapy into earlier stages of disease. Earlier in her career, she led the TAILOR trial, a practice-changing study demonstrating the limits of EGFR inhibitors in patients with wild-type EGFR, and contributed to the development of targeted therapies, including EGFR and MET inhibitors. She has authored more than 350 peer-reviewed publications spanning clinical trials, biomarkers, and translational oncology.
Dr. Garassino is also at the forefront of AI-driven and multimodal research in thoracic oncology. She co-leads I3LUNG, a large international effort to develop AI tools for individualized immunotherapy decisions. She has contributed to innovative work applying deep learning to rare tumors such as thymic epithelial malignancies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she founded and led TERAVOLT, a global registry examining outcomes of patients with thoracic cancers and COVID-19. A Fellow of ESMO and “The Lancet” Commissioner, she is the founder and honorary president of Women for Oncology Italy and the co-Chair for Women in Thoracic Oncology.
Tracking the Response to Immunotherapy: Blood microRNA Dynamics in Patients With Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Tracking the Response to Immunotherapy: Blood microRNA Dynamics in Patients With Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. JCO Precis Oncol. 2025 May; 9:e2400790.
PMID: 40403209
Plain language summary of the EVOKE-01 study of sacituzumab govitecan vs docetaxel in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
Plain language summary of the EVOKE-01 study of sacituzumab govitecan vs docetaxel in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Future Oncol. 2025 May 15; 1-13.
PMID: 40371894
Adverse events self-reported by patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer in the phase III CASPIAN study.
Adverse events self-reported by patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer in the phase III CASPIAN study. Future Oncol. 2025 May; 21(12):1511-1523.
PMID: 40331625
Neoadjuvant versus perioperative chemo-immunotherapy according to pathological response in resectable NSCLC: a reconstructed individual patient data meta-analysis.
Neoadjuvant versus perioperative chemo-immunotherapy according to pathological response in resectable NSCLC: a reconstructed individual patient data meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Apr 11.
PMID: 40210599
The Impact of the Tumor Microenvironment on the Effect of IL-1ß Blockade in NSCLC: Biomarker Analyses from CANOPY-1 and CANOPY-N Trials.
The Impact of the Tumor Microenvironment on the Effect of IL-1ß Blockade in NSCLC: Biomarker Analyses from CANOPY-1 and CANOPY-N Trials. Cancer Res Commun. 2025 04 01; 5(4):632-646.
PMID: 40116353
Cemiplimab Monotherapy for First-Line Treatment of Patients with Advanced NSCLC With PD-L1 Expression of 50% or Higher: Five-Year Outcomes of EMPOWER-Lung 1.
Cemiplimab Monotherapy for First-Line Treatment of Patients with Advanced NSCLC With PD-L1 Expression of 50% or Higher: Five-Year Outcomes of EMPOWER-Lung 1. J Thorac Oncol. 2025 Mar 19.
PMID: 40118215
Immunotherapy in advanced, KRAS G12C-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer: current strategies and future directions.
Immunotherapy in advanced, KRAS G12C-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer: current strategies and future directions. Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2025; 17:17588359251323985.
PMID: 40093982
The Role of GLP-1 Agonists in Mitigating Lorlatinib-Induced Metabolic Syndrome: Two Case Studies.
The Role of GLP-1 Agonists in Mitigating Lorlatinib-Induced Metabolic Syndrome: Two Case Studies. Clin Lung Cancer. 2025 Mar 04.
PMID: 40157899
Author Correction: CTLA4 blockade abrogates KEAP1/STK11-related resistance to PD-(L)1 inhibitors.
Author Correction: CTLA4 blockade abrogates KEAP1/STK11-related resistance to PD-(L)1 inhibitors. Nature. 2025 Mar; 639(8054):E19.
PMID: 40016449
Determinants of 5-year survival in patients with advanced NSCLC with PD-L1=50% treated with first-line pembrolizumab outside of clinical trials: results from the Pembro-real 5Y global registry.
Determinants of 5-year survival in patients with advanced NSCLC with PD-L1=50% treated with first-line pembrolizumab outside of clinical trials: results from the Pembro-real 5Y global registry. J Immunother Cancer. 2025 Feb 04; 13(2).
PMID: 39904562