Dr. Cavenee did his graduate and postdoctoral training in cell biology, biochemistry and human genetics.  He received his Ph.D. with honors in 1977 from the University of Kansas School of Medicine followed by postdoctoral work at the Jackson Laboratory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Utah. Following faculty positions at the University of Cincinnati and McGill University (where he was the Founding Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Montreal Branch) and from 1991-2015 he was Founding Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, San Diego Branch and Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of California at San Diego. Between 2015-2020, he was Director, Strategic Alliances-CNS of Ludwig Cancer Research with global responsibilities. He is now Director Emeritus of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Cavenee’s most recognized accomplishments are in the genetic basis of cancer predisposition, tumor progression, oncogenic cellular signaling and the use of genetic approaches for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. 

Dr. Cavenee is an elected member/fellow of several prestigious organizations including the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Medicine, the German Academy of Science Leopoldina and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He has published more than 400 scientific papers and received more than 125 international honors. He has been President of the American Association for Cancer Research. He has founded three biotechnology companies and served on the Boards of Directors or Scientific Advisory Boards of a dozen others in four countries. He is a Founder and member of the Board of Directors of Acurion.