John B. Haanen PhD

Dr. John B. Haanen is Head of the Division of Medical Oncology and Staff Scientist in the Division of Immunology at the Netherlands. He is also Professor of Translational Immunotherapy of Cancer at Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands.

Dr. Haanen received his medical degree from the University of Leiden, then completed a Ph.D. on human CD4+ helper T cells at the Department of Immunohematology and the Blood Bank of the Leiden University Medical Centre and the DNAX Research Institute in California, USA. He then trained in internal medicine at Leiden University Medical Centre and at Bronovo Hospital in The Hague, the Netherlands. He did a postdoctoral fellowship in tumor immunology at the division of immunology, followed by training in medical oncology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute.

His research focuses on the translation of novel immunotherapy strategies into the clinical practice, especially adoptive cell transfer programs and immune checkpoint blockade. His clinical medical oncology practice is focused on melanoma and renal cell carcinoma patients. Dr. Haanen is a Co-founder of the Amsterdam Biotherapeutics Unit and was Chairman of The Dutch Tumor Immunology Working Party for oncology for many years. He serves on various national and international advisory boards and committees, including the editorial board of Current Oncology Reports and ESMO Open.