W.K. Alfred Yung, MD

Dr. W.K. Alfred Yung has been a Board Member since 2020.  

Dr. WK Alfred Yung is Professor of Neuro-Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he held the Margaret and Ben Love Chair of Clinical Cancer Care and dual appointment as Professor of Cancer Biology. He is also a faculty member at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston.

Dr. Yung’s extensive experience and expertise in brain tumor research includes over three decades of basic, translational and clinical studies at MD Anderson. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed journals.

He was co-director (1999-2015) of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Brain Tumor Center and led the Neuro-Oncology Department as interim chair (1999-2002) and as chair (2002-2015). 

Respected nationally and internationally, Dr. Yung has served in numerous leadership roles, including editor-in-chief of  “Neuro-Oncology,” from 2007-2014, co-chair of the NCI Brain Malignancy Steering Committee from 2011-2017, special scientific advisor of NBTS, member of the NCI Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel 2016, and a member of the MDACC Cancer Moonshot Leadership Committee. 

Dr. Yung earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and an MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed internship and residency training at the University of California, San Diego and chief residency and a fellowship at Cornell University School of Medicine and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.