Heinz-Josef Lenz

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, FACP, is Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at USC's Keck School of Medicine, holding the J. Terrence Lanni Chair in Gastrointestinal Cancer Research. He serves as Co-Director of the USC Center for Molecular Pathway and Drug Discovery and Co-Director of the USC Norris Center for Cancer Drug Development. His research focuses on molecular pathways in gastrointestinal cancers, drug development, and precision oncology approaches.

Research interests include:

• Molecular regulation of drug resistance in colorectal cancer
• Development of targeted therapies for GI malignancies
• Biomarker discovery for treatment personalization
• Germline polymorphisms predicting treatment outcomes
• International collaborative cancer research

His extensive publication record demonstrates leadership in gastrointestinal oncology clinical trials and translational research, with recent work emphasizing KRAS-targeted therapies, immunotherapy combinations, and metabolic modeling approaches. Awards include the USC Mentoring Award (2021) and Outstanding Investigator Award from the Western Society of Clinical Investigation (2016).