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Vincent DeVita Jr, MD

Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases)
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About

Titles

Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases)

Biography

Dr. Vincent DeVita, the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at the Yale Cancer Center and Professor of Epidemiology and of Public Health, was the Director of the Yale Cancer Center from 1993 to 2003. He spent the early part of his career at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and in 1980, the President of the United States appointed him director of the NCI and the National Cancer Program, a position he held until 1988. From 1988 until be returned to Yale in 1993, he was Physician-in-Chief and Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a member of the Program of Molecular Pharmacology. Dr. DeVita has earned international recognition for his accomplishments as a pioneer in the field of Oncology. While at the NCI, he developed combination chemotherapy programs curative for Hodgkin's disease and diffuse large cell lymphomas. He developed the four-drug combination, known by the acronym MOPP, which increased the cure rate for patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease from nearly zero to over 70%. In addition, in collaboration with Dr. George Canellos, he developed the combination chemotherapy CMF, which still remains a useful therapy for breast cancer. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the College of William and Mary in 1957. He was awarded his M.D. degree with distinction from the George Washington University School of Medicine in 1961. Dr. DeVita is the author or co-author of more than 450 scientific articles. He is one of the three editors of "Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology", in its 11th edition, and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Cancer Journal. Dr. DeVita, along with his daughter, Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn wrote a personal memoir entitled "The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on cancer is Winnable--and How We Can Get There", published in 2015.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Senior Resident
Yale-New Haven Hospital (1966)
Fellow
National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health (1965)
Senior Resident
The George Washington University, DC General Hospital (1963)
Resident Intern
University of Michigan Medical Center (1962)
MD
George Washington University (1961)

Board Certifications

  • Medical Oncology

    Certification Organization
    AB of Internal Medicine
    Original Certification Date
    1973
  • Hematology

    Certification Organization
    AB of Internal Medicine
    Original Certification Date
    1972
  • Internal Medicine

    Certification Organization
    AB of Internal Medicine
    Original Certification Date
    1968

Research

Overview

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Health Care; Hodgkin Disease; Lymphoma; Molecular Biology

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Vincent DeVita's published research.

Publications

2018

  • DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg's Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology, 11th Edition.
    DeVita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, (Eds) DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg's Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology, 11th Edition. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2018.
    Books

2017

2016

2015

  • The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer is Winnable--and How We Can Get There
    DeVita VT, DeVita-Raeburn E. The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer is Winnable--and How We Can Get There. New York, NY, Sarah Crighton Books at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, November 3, 2015.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

2014

2013

2011

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    Yale School of Medicine

  • activity

    Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center

  • activity

    Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center

  • activity

    Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Public Health

  • honor

    World Affairs Council of Connecticut Annual Luminary Award

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