Dr. Ariel Lopez-Chavez serves as Research Director and Principal Investigator of START Pittsburgh, the START Center for Cancer Research Phase 1 unit at Allegheny Health Network (AHN), where he leads early-phase clinical research for patients in western Pennsylvania. A medical oncologist and physician-scientist, he brings more than 15 years of experience in cancer drug development across academia, the pharmaceutical industry and health-system research. His work focuses on early-phase drug development and precision oncology across advanced solid tumors, with deep expertise in lung cancer. He is also Associate Professor of Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Dr. Lopez-Chavez spent seven years at Genentech-Roche. As Global Head of Oncology Development Innovation, he led a global, cross-portfolio function within the oncology development organization, shaping how new treatments and mechanisms of action are evaluated, from novel clinical trial designs to the use of advanced analytics and digital health in drug development. He also served as Medical Director for the company’s flagship cancer immunotherapy, leading global late-stage trials, from design through regulatory submission, that resulted in two FDA approvals. He co-authored the pivotal studies in the New England Journal of Medicine and is a named inventor on a patent application for a first-line chemoimmunotherapy regimen.

Earlier, at the National Cancer Institute, he co-led an early biomarker-driven basket trial that matched patients to targeted therapies based on the molecular profile of their tumors. He then held faculty and program leadership roles at the Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, and at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami. As a principal investigator, he ran Phase 1 through Phase 3 trials, including Phase 1 studies in advanced solid tumors and trials that supported the FDA approval of several targeted therapies and immunotherapies.

Since 2023, he has directed the Precision Medicine and Developmental Therapeutics Program at the AHN Cancer Center, where he has built a robust portfolio of industry-sponsored trials, from Phase 1 through Phase 3, spanning targeted therapies, immunotherapies, bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. He works with leading global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and leads a real-world evidence program built on health-plan and health-system data.

Dr. Lopez-Chavez completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and his medical oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. He is board certified in medical oncology and has authored more than 60 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, conference abstracts and book chapters.

At START Pittsburgh, he is focused on bringing promising new therapies to patients close to home, offering new options and hope to those whose cancers no longer respond to standard treatments, and helping advance the next generation of cancer medicines.