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    David A. Braun, MD, PhD

    Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology and Hematology)
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    Additional Titles

    Louis Goodman and Alfred Gilman Yale Scholar, Yale Cancer Center

    Associate Director, Medical Oncology-Hematology Fellowship Program, Yale Cancer Center

    Contact Info

    david.braun@yale.edu

    Yale School of Medicine

    333 Cedar St, PO Box 208028

    New Haven, CT 06520

    United States

    About

    Titles

    Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology and Hematology)

    Louis Goodman and Alfred Gilman Yale Scholar, Yale Cancer Center; Associate Director, Medical Oncology-Hematology Fellowship Program, Yale Cancer Center

    Biography

    David Braun, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), the Louis Goodman and Alfred Gilman Yale Scholar, and Principal Investigator in the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology (CMCO) at Yale Cancer Center. Dr. Braun is a medical oncologist who cares for patients with kidney cancers. He received his PhD in Computational Biology from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Science at New York University and his medical degree from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He completed his residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he received the Dunn Medical Intern Award and served as Chief Medical Resident before completing fellowship training in adult oncology through the Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare program where he was appointed the Emil Frei Fellow and the John R. Svenson Fellow.

    Dr. Braun joined Yale from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where he was an Instructor in Medicine with clinical and scientific interest in understanding and improving immune therapies for kidney cancer. He has a longstanding interest in integrating experimental and computational approaches to biomedical research and is currently studying mechanisms of response and resistance to immune therapy in kidney cancer, with the goal of developing novel therapies.

    Dr. Braun has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on kidney cancer and tumor immunology, focused on defining the genetic underpinnings of the disease, the local, regional, and systemic determinants on anti-tumor immunity, and the identification and targeting of tumor-specific antigens. He is the recipient of an NIH/NCI R37 MERIT Award, the Trailblazer Award and Christopher G. Wood Rising Start Award from the Kidney Cancer Association, the Cancer Discovery Early Career Award from the American Association for Cancer Research, and the ASPIRE Award from the American Association of Immunologists. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

    Last Updated on July 07, 2026.

    Appointments

    • Medical Oncology and Hematology

      Assistant Professor
      Primary

    • Pathology

      Assistant Professor
      Secondary
      Pathology

    Other Departments & Organizations

    Education & Training

    Instructor
    Harvard Medical School (2021)
    Physician
    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2021)
    Postdoctoral Fellow
    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Medical School (2019)
    Chief Medical Resident
    Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School (2017)
    Clinical Fellow
    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Massachusetts General Hospital / Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School (2016)
    Resident
    Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School (2015)
    Intern
    Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School (2014)
    MD
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2013)
    PhD
    Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, Computational Biology (2012)
    AB
    Princeton University, Molecular Biology (2006)

    Research

    Overview

    How do somatic alterations impact response to immunotherapy?
    We integrate genomic, transcriptomic, and immunopathologic analyses with demographic and clinical response data to dissect how tumor genetic features contribute to response or resistance to current immunotherapies, with a focus on immune checkpoint inhibitors (for example, see Braun et al, Nature Medicine, 2020 and Braun et al, JAMA Oncology, 2019), including exceptional response (Jammihal*, Saliby*, Labaki* et al, Nature Cancer, 2025). We also integrate machine learning learning methods to define the impact of molecular subtypes of kidney cancer on therapeutic outcomes (Saliby*, Labaki*, Jammihal* et al, Cancer Cell, 2024).

    What are the local (tumor microenvironment), regional, and systemic determinants of anti-tumor immunity?
    The tumor-immune microenvironment is comprised of heterogeneous cell types that may positively or negatively impact anti-tumor immune responses. Our work identified key immune cell populations and cellular interaction circuits that were enriched in advanced clear cell kidney cancer (see Braun*, Street* et al, Cancer Cell, 2021), and defined the immune microenvironment of rare variants (chromophobe kidney cancer, see Labaki et al, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2025). We now aim to utilize single-cell proteogenomic tools to systematically dissect this complex ecosystem and identify candidate immune cell populations and cellular states that impact response or resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (Hugaboom*, Wirth*, Street*, Ruthen* et al, Cancer Discovery, 2025). Further, we aim to construct patient-derived model systems to enable a mechanistic understanding of these potential determinants of anti-tumor immunity.


    What are the target tumor antigens and what are the characteristics of T cells that recognize them?
    The heart of antigen-specific anti-tumor immunity is the interaction between the T cell receptor (TCR) expressed on the surface of tumor-infiltrating T cells (TILs) and the peptide-MHC complex, displayed on a tumor cell. However, in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and many other cancer types, the important tumor antigens and the T cells that recognize them remain largely unknown. We aim to identify relevant tumor antigens that can ultimately enable innovative “precision” approaches to cancer immunotherapies (for example, see Jiang*, Braun*, Klauser* et al, Cell, 2025), and translate these into novel therapies for our patients (including a personalized neoantigen-targeting cancer vaccine; see Braun et al, Nature, 2025).

    Medical Research Interests

    Antigens; Cancer Vaccines; Carcinoma, Renal Cell; Genomics; Immunotherapy; Transcriptome; Tumor Microenvironment

    Research at a Glance

    Yale Co-Authors

    Frequent collaborators of David A. Braun's published research.

    Publications

    2026

    See All Publications

    Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

    Activities

    • activity

      Hoosier Cancer Research Network Correlative Science Clinical Trial Working Group

      2019 - PresentProfessional OrganizationsMember
    • activity

      European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Scientific Committee for Investigational Immunotherapy Track

      2022 - 2022Meeting Planning and ParticipationMember
    • activity

      Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program Scientific Review Panel

      2020 - 2021Peer Review Groups and Grant Study SectionsMember
    • activity

      Kidney Caner Association Think Tank

      11/17/2021 - 11/30/2021Professional OrganizationsParticipant
    • activity

      Kidney Cancer Research Summit Steering Committee

      2019 - 2020Meeting Planning and ParticipationCommittee Member
    View full list of activities

    Honors

    • honor

      ASPIRE Award

      04/01/2026International AwardAmerican Society of Immunologists
    • honor

      Clinical Cancer Research Award

      04/01/2026Yale School of Medicine AwardYale Cancer Center
    • honor

      Cancer Discovery Early Career Award

      04/01/2026International AwardAmerican Association for Cancer Research
    • honor

      Visiting Professor (Internal Medicine Physician-Scientist Training Program)

      01/17/2026Regional AwardMass General Brigham / Harvard Medical School
    • honor

      Elected Member

      04/01/2025National AwardAmerican Society for Clinical Investigation
    View full list of honors

    Clinical Care

    Overview

    David A. Braun, MD, PhD, specializes in medical oncology and hematology, focusing on the treatment of kidney cancers.

    As an assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Braun is dedicated to advancing the understanding and application of immune therapies in kidney cancer.

    Immune therapy is a treatment that helps the body’s own defense system, the immune system, fight cancer. Normally, the immune system might not recognize cancer cells because they can disguise themselves. Immune therapy works by removing the "brakes" that prevent the immune system from attacking cancer, allowing it to better target and destroy cancer cells.

    Dr. Braun’s research involves exploring how the environment around kidney cancer cells affects treatment and finding specific targets on cancer cells to develop personalized therapies for diseases like renal cell carcinoma.

    Dr. Braun received his doctoral degree in computational biology from New York University and his medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He completed his residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a fellowship in adult oncology through the Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care program.

    Clinical Specialties

    Medical Oncology; Genitourinary Oncology

    Fact Sheets

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    Board Certifications

    • Medical Oncology

      Certification Organization
      AB of Internal Medicine
      Original Certification Date
      2020

    • Internal Medicine

      Certification Organization
      AB of Internal Medicine
      Original Certification Date
      2016

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    Contacts

    Email
    Appointment Number
    Mailing Address

    Yale School of Medicine

    333 Cedar St, PO Box 208028

    New Haven, CT 06520

    United States

    Administrative Support

    Locations

    • BraunLab

      Lab

      300 George Street, Fl 6th Floor, Ste Suite 6400

      New Haven, CT 06511

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