Eugene Hwang, M.D., appointed chief of Oncology

Eugene (Gene) Hwang, M.D., has been appointed to the role of chief of Oncology at Children’s National Hospital.

Dr. Hwang has been part of the Children’s National team for 13 years and most recently served as the associate chief of Oncology.

“I joined the division in 2010, fairly new to the job and hoping to simply learn how to treat pediatric cancer. Thirteen years later, I have learned from an almost overwhelming number of people – colleagues, mentors, patients and their families,” Dr. Hwang said. “Our field constantly reminds us of the urgent need for better treatments; in pursuit of that goal, the program at Children’s National has innovated at a level which has taught me the importance of translational and clinical research, connections within our team and the community, and above all, our commitment to our patients. I am honored and excited to help lead this team to continue in their mission to cure more children of their cancer and with fewer side effects.”

Dr. Hwang received his degree in cell and molecular biology from Rice University and a medical degree from Duke University. He completed a pediatrics residency at Brown University/Hasbro Children’s Hospital and returned to Duke for fellowships in pediatric hematology/oncology and pediatric neuro-oncology.

Since Dr. Hwang joined Children’s National in 2010, he has risen to international prominence for his expertise in pediatric brain tumors. Dr. Hwang holds study leadership roles in several research consortia, including the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC), Collaborative Network for Neuro-Oncology Clinical Trials (CONNECT), Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC) and the Collaborative Ependymoma Research Network (CERN).

At Children’s National, he serves as principal investigator for two investigator-initiated studies and is the recipient of a Department of Defense IMPACT grant, the collaborative awardee on multiple NIH grants, and numerous foundation grants.  He has served on several of our clinical and scientific committees, such as director of neuro-oncology fellowship program and vice chair of Children’s National Brain Tumor Institute. In addition, Dr. Hwang was recently installed as the inaugural William Seamus Hughes Professor of Neuro-oncology and Immunology.

“The division already has established itself as one of the premier pediatric oncology programs in the world,” Dr. Hwang added. “Being able to offer an even more cutting-edge therapy so that every child treated at Children’s National has the ability to access world-class treatment is a primary goal of our division and I hope to see our team extend its reach of transformative treatments for more children with cancer.”