Jeffrey Ishizuka, MD, DPhil

Jeffrey Ishizuka, MD, is a medical oncologist who treats patients with melanoma (a type of skin cancer) at Smilow Cancer Hospital.

An active researcher, Dr. Ishizuka also runs a tumor immunology lab where he seeks out new ways to use the immune system to treat cancer and benefit cancer patients.

Dr. Ishizuka earned a DPhil (doctor of philosophy, which is equivalent to a PhD), in immunology studying CD8+ T cells, a type of immune cell that is capable of attacking and killing tumor cells. These cells have been shown to be critical mediators of response to immunotherapies used in melanoma and other diseases.

He completed medical school at Harvard University, internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and medical oncology fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Ishizuka is an assistant professor of medicine (oncology), pathology and immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine.