Wallace Akerley, MD, is a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and senior director of clinical research and co-director of the Thoracic Cancer Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Improvements in cancer treatment evolve from laboratory discoveries, animal studies, and controlled clinical trials. This process is most effective when basic scientists and clinicians work side by side. Huntsman Cancer Institute offers a unique opportunity for basic scientists and clinicians to collaborate in solving problems related to cancer patients. Clinical trials offer promising new treatments to qualifying patients and are a critical step in developing improved cancer treatments.

In addition to his leadership responsibilities, Akerley treats patients with many types of cancer, focusing on lung cancer in particular. He participates on the lung cancer committees of two national organizations for cancer treatment: the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG). Akerley joined Huntsman Cancer Institute in 2002. Previously, he was director of medical oncology and associate director of the Boston University Cancer Center. He received his medical degree at Brown University in Rhode Island, completed his residency at the University of Southern California (USC), and served additional fellowships at USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.