Christopher Gallagher has over 20 years of experience as a practicing medical oncologist and clinical researcher in late-stage clinical trials and population health studies. His early career includes two decades of active-duty service as a physician in the US Army, where he had the opportunity to hold many leadership roles. Chris has more than 15 years of experience serving in leadership roles within cancer centers and national cancer organizations. He has deep knowledge and experience providing longitudinal complex care to women with advanced breast cancer. Additionally, he has served as the local primary investigator for more than 50 clinical trials, including investigator-initiated trials evaluating minority health outcomes and racial disparities in women with breast cancer. As a clinical researcher, he has extensive experience in clinical trial design, scientific and institutional review, and data safety and monitoring.
For the past eight years, Chris has co-directed the breast cancer clinical research program for MedStar Health/Georgetown University and led the cancer clinical trials program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. In these roles Chris directed the scientific priorities, ensured comprehensive administrative and regulatory support for clinical research while promoting innovation and health equity in the patient populations these institutions serve.
In addition, for the past eight years Chris has served as Cancer Center Director at a large safety-net hospital, successfully developed and implemented programs focused on high-quality clinical care, community partnerships, and health equity. Initiatives such as lung cancer screening, cardio-oncology, cancer survivorship, palliative care, and a medical-legal partnership have not only enhanced patient care but have also resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications.
In his most recent position he serves as the Chief Medical Officer at miROncol, a health tech company developing an innovative non-invasive multi-cancer early detection test to provide a highly accurate, affordable, and scalable cancer assessment tool to detect cancer at the earliest stages when cancer is most curable in at-risk asymptomatic people.