Dr. William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of urology, medicine, pathology, and radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
The Marion I. Knott Professor of Oncology, Dr. Nelson is also the Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. He holds a joint appointment in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences.
Dr. Nelson is a recognized leader in translational cancer research. He specializes in the treatment and research of prostate cancer.
He and fellow Johns Hopkins colleagues discovered the most common genome alteration in prostate cancer. The discovery led to new diagnostic tests for the disease and has fueled interest in new drug discovery and other treatment options, now ongoing at Hopkins.
Dr. Nelson was one of three co-chairs of the National Cancer Institute’s Translational Research Working Group, which worked to reengineer translational cancer science nationwide. He also has served on scientific advisory boards of several companies working to develop new cancer technologies and treatments. He is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research’s Board of Directors, President of the National Coalition for Cancer Research, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
At the Kimmel Cancer Center, Dr. Nelson has served as the Associate Director for Translational Research and the Co-Director of the Prostate Cancer Program, and acts in a leadership role for the National Cancer Institute-funded Howard University Cancer Center-Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Partnership Program, dedicated to building cancer research capabilities at Howard and to enhancing minority subject recruitment to cancer-research programs at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Nelson earned his medical degree and completed doctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency and a medical oncology fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
