Laura Q.M. Chow, M.D., FRCPC

Laura Chow came to medicine with a background in pharmacology and therapeutics and was inspired to pursue a career in oncology because of her personal experiences with cancer in her family as well as her interest in clinical research.

Before joining Dell Medical School, Chow spent more than nine years as the associate director of the phase I developmental therapeutics program and attending medical oncologist in lung, head and neck malignancies at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance; associate member of clinical research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; and a professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology at the University of Washington.

Chow has extensive clinical trials experience; a strong background in clinical pharmacology, therapeutics and developmental therapeutics; and excellent Canadian and USA internal medicine and clinical medical oncology skills and training. Her clinical expertise is in head and neck cancers, thyroid cancer and lung cancers with a national and international reputation as a researcher focused on novel therapeutics and early phase clinical trials, immunotherapy and head and neck cancers, thyroid cancers and lung cancers. She has helped develop and bring forth many novel drugs, including the PD-1 immune-checkpoint inhibitors, into regulatory approval as standard-of-care treatments for head and neck cancers and lung cancer. She has been the lead principal investigator of over 40 early phase thoracic and head and neck cancer trials with over 65 publications in high-impact journals, with a clinical research interest focused on developing novel lung and head and neck cancer immune-checkpoint therapies and new combination immunotherapeutics.

Chow enjoys teaching and believes strongly in patient-centered clinical care. In addition to English, she is fluent in Cantonese and conversational French. In her spare time, she runs, cycles, pursues fitness classes, cooks, bakes and loves spending time with her husband and son.