George Simon, MD, FACP, FCCP
Dr. George Simon is an internationally respected medical oncologist and specialist in lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. As a senior member of the Chemical Biology and Molecular Medicine Program, he identifies the most effective strategies for personalized cancer care in the form of either immunotherapy or targeted therapy matched to each patient’s tumor molecular profile.[1]
Dr. Simon is a member of the American Society of Oncology and the American College of Physicians. He holds two U.S. patents and is a leader in cancer research.
Education and Career
Dr. Simon earned his medical degree at the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Punjab, India. After completing a residency in Internal Medicine there, he pursued an additional residency in Internal Medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado followed by a fellowship in Medical Oncology and Hematology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.[1]
Upon completion of his medical education and training, Dr. Simon served as a faculty member and member of the Department of Thoracic Oncology, as well as director of mesothelioma research at Moffitt Cancer Center. He also held director-level positions at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and the Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston, South Carolina, and as medical director of the MD Anderson Cancer Network. Before accepting his current role at Moffitt, he served as section chief of translational research in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.[2]
Dr. Simon has also served on guideline panels for the American College of Chest Physicians and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Research
Dr. Simon was named the executive medical director of the joint Moffit Cancer Center-AdventHealth clinical research unit in Celebration, Florida, which provides access to the latest in cancer treatments through cutting-edge research and access to investigational early phase clinical trials to patients in Central Florida.[2]
His research interests include early drug development, DNA repair, tumor metabolism, and epigenetic modulation of cancer. He has served as a reviewer for several panels of the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, the Department of Defense, and the Veterans Administration Merit Review Board. He has also been an international grant reviewer for the NICE, UK, and for granting organizations in Ireland and Australia.[2]
Dr. Simon has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, including the following recent works:[1]
- Patz EF, Gottlin EB, Simon GR. Perspective: rethinking therapeutic strategies in oncology. Front Oncol. 2024 Jan.13:1335987. Pubmedid: 38269024. Pmcid: PMC10805859.
- Gilardone S, Thapa R, Laborde J, Shafique M, Saltos A, Creelan B, Tanvetyanon T, Chiappori A, Simon G, Haura EB, Gray JE, Chen DT, Melzer D, Pellini B. Osimertinib vs. afatinib as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with an EGFR exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R mutation. J Thorac Dis. 2023 Nov.15(11):6115-6125. Pubmedid: 38090314. Pmcid: PMC10713299.
- Piha-Paul S, Simon G, Belani CP, Chao H, Gaspar K, Lee B, Dowlati A. A Phase 1, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation Study of L-DOS47 in Combination With Pemetrexed Plus Carboplatin in Patients With Stage IV Recurrent or Metastatic Nonsquamous NSCLC. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2022 Nov.3(11):100408. Pubmedid: 36268537. Pmcid: PMC9576893.
- Lewis WE, Hong L, Mott FE, Simon G, Wu CC, Rinsurongkawong W, Lee JJ, Lam VK, Heymach JV, Zhang J, Le X. Efficacy of Targeted Inhibitors in Metastatic Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma With EGFR or ALK Alterations. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2021 Nov.2(11):100237. Pubmedid: 34820641. Pmcid: PMC8600084.
- Theelen WSME, Chen D, Verma V, Hobbs BP, Peulen HMU, Aerts JGJV, Bahce I, Niemeijer ALN, Chang JY, de Groot PM, Nguyen QN, Comeaux NI, Simon GR, Skoulidis F, Lin SH, He K, Patel R, Heymach J, Baas P, Welsh JW. Pembrolizumab with or without radiotherapy for metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: a pooled analysis of two randomised trials. Lancet Respir Med. 2021 May.9(5):467-475. Pubmedid: 33096027.
