M.D.
Medical Oncologist
University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY
Chief Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
Renowned neuro-oncologist Jana Portnow, M.D., is a professor of medical oncology and co-director of the Brain Tumor Program at City of Hope® Cancer Center Duarte, where she specializes in pioneering early-phase clinical trials for patients with brain tumors. A dedicated physician-scientist, she has played a key role in shaping novel treatments through innovative clinical research.
Dr. Portnow has secured substantial funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance her work, most notably as co-principal investigator on a major grant that made City of Hope a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Glioblastoma Therapeutics Network – a collaboration between leading cancer institutions focused on developing new therapies for glioma. She has also contributed to national research strategy by serving on the NIH Clinical Oncology Study Section and currently holds the role of vice chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s guidelines panel for central nervous system cancers.
Dr. Portnow’s research portfolio includes groundbreaking work on neural stem cells that can deliver therapeutic agents directly to brain tumors. This includes first-in-human studies of therapies such as oncolytic viruses – which are engineered to selectively destroy cancer cells – and CAR T cell therapies delivered into the brain to target aggressive gliomas and metastatic disease.
Inspired daily by the strength and determination of her patients, Dr. Portnow is deeply committed to improving outcomes for individuals facing brain cancers, recognizing the profound personal and emotional impact of such illnesses. Dr. Portnow earned her medical degree from the University of Rochester in New York state and completed an internal medicine residency at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she also served as chief resident. She completed two fellowships in medical oncology and neuro-oncology at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute in Baltimore.