Notable Alums
Specialty: Oncology
Graduation Year: 1972
Kenneth Foon
Kenneth Foon, M.D. ’72, is a specialist in immunotherapy and cancer therapies who has focused his career on immunologic/biologic therapeutic approaches to leukemia and lymphoma, as well as other cancers. He is board certified in Hematology and Medical Oncology.
In addition to his medical degree, Dr. Foon has a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University. After graduating, Dr. Foon interned in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and then spent three years as a U.S. public health service officer in a basic immunology laboratory at the National Institutes of Health. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and trained in Hematology and Oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Foon is a former professor at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Stanford University Medical School, the Barrett Cancer Center at the University of Cincinnati, the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky, the Scripps Clinic and Research Institute and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute at State University of New York, Buffalo. He has served as an advisor for numerous biotech companies and is a vice president of Medical Affairs for Celgene Corp. in Summit, New Jersey.
Dr. Foon is the co-inventor of five cancer vaccines, for which he holds four of his 14 U.S. patents. He is the author or co-author of more than 325 peer-reviewed scientific publications and book chapters. In 1987, he received the WSU School of Medicine Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award, presented annually to one or more alumni who have made outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes, whose contributions to the health field in the broader sense are outstanding or for service to the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
In addition to his medical degree, Dr. Foon has a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University. After graduating, Dr. Foon interned in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and then spent three years as a U.S. public health service officer in a basic immunology laboratory at the National Institutes of Health. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and trained in Hematology and Oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Foon is a former professor at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Stanford University Medical School, the Barrett Cancer Center at the University of Cincinnati, the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky, the Scripps Clinic and Research Institute and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute at State University of New York, Buffalo. He has served as an advisor for numerous biotech companies and is a vice president of Medical Affairs for Celgene Corp. in Summit, New Jersey.
Dr. Foon is the co-inventor of five cancer vaccines, for which he holds four of his 14 U.S. patents. He is the author or co-author of more than 325 peer-reviewed scientific publications and book chapters. In 1987, he received the WSU School of Medicine Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award, presented annually to one or more alumni who have made outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes, whose contributions to the health field in the broader sense are outstanding or for service to the Wayne State University School of Medicine.