Alexander T. Pearson

Alexander Pearson’s research group seeks to integrate medical knowledge and computational research to improve cancer care.

Dr. Pearson is Director of the Head/Neck Cancer program in Medical Oncology at the University of Chicago. He is a medical oncologist and cares for adults with head and neck cancers, especially squamous cell carcinoma, a common form of cancer that develops in the squamous cells that make up the middle and outer layer lining the mouth and throat. He also specializes in salivary gland cancers. He is a nationally recognized head/neck cancer expert, and has lead numerous clinical trials studying improvements in treatments and patient outcomes.

Dr. Pearson is also Director of Data Sciences in Medical Oncology at the University of Chicago. His research combines artificial intelligence, laboratory experiments, clinical data, and mathematical models to more fully understand how head and neck cancers form and how to better design treatments for these cancers. His research has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health, The US Department of Energy, The US Department of Defense, The American Cancer Society, The European Commission, and multiple research foundations. Dr. Pearson has more than one hundred peer-reviewed publications in press. He serves as an advisor on artificial intelligence and data science for multiple groups including the NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, The American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Medical Association.