Specialty
Dr. Harris is a pioneer in the development of clinical applications based on interactions between the immune system and cancers of the genitourinary system.
Titles and Roles
- Associate Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology
- Emory University School of Medicine
- Section Co-Chief, Hematology and Medical Oncology
- Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center
- Medical Director
- Emory Healthcare Interpretation and Translation Service
- Medical Oncologist
- Bladder Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Testicular Cancer
- Research Program
- Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics
Biography
Wayne B. Harris, MD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and joined the faculty in 1998. Dr. Harris also serves as the Section Co-Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. A board certified medical oncologist, he has worked to develop new treatments for kidney cancer, bladder cancer and prostate cancer through clinical trials and translational research at Winship Cancer Institute and the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. These include numerous investigator-initiated, cooperative group and industry-sponsored studies.
On a national level, Dr. Harris works as a member of the Core Committee for Genitourinary Oncology of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; American College of Radiology Imaging Network where he has served the principle investigator for national clinical trials. He is also a member of Loma Linda University Health Board of Trustees.
Education
Dr. Harris obtained his Medical Degree from Loma Linda University in 1988 in southern Calfornia. He subsequently completed three years of specialty training in Internal Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. After completing a service obligation to the National Health Scholarship Corps in Chattanooga, TN, he returned to Emory where he completed three additional years of subspecialty training in Hematology and Oncology. He is board certified in Medical Oncology.
Research
Dr. Harris is a pioneer in the development of clinical applications based on interactions between the immune system and cancers of the genitourinary system. He has formulated the systemic inflammatory response hypothesis which states that tumor-activated, immune-mediated, systemic inflammation is the primary cause of cancer associated morbidity and mortality. Based on this hypothesis, he was the first to predict the occurrence of acquired systemic inflammation and has confirmed the adverse impact this can have on overall survival in kidney cancer patients with metastatic disease. He has also defined kinetic inflammatory response patterns that correlate with drug resistance or response to therapy as well as overall survival. In addition, he is the first to propose inflammation free survival as a clinical trial endpoint. The key advantage of this endpoint is that the close correlation with overall survival is not affected by the number of lines of therapy. Dr. Harris has developed the Inflammation Intensity Index for kinetic risk assessment as a means of quantifying changes in risk of death in real time. He is also the first to identify significant racial disparities in clinical outcome based exclusively on the intensity of the systemic inflammatory response. This body of work has established Dr. Harris as an emerging thought leader in the field of inflammation and cancer.
Below is a listing of current federal grants for the above principal investigator.
GrantNumber Title
Publications
Dr. Harris has been an author or co-author on a number of publications in medical and scientific journals.
Publications Publication Date
Awards
Dr. Harris has been the recipient of the Winship Cancer Institute Junior Faculty Development Award and the CaP CURE Young Investigator Award.