David M Nanus, MD

Chief, Hematology and Medical Oncology

Hematology and Medical Oncology (Medicine)

Contact & profiles

Clinical profile ↗

Appointments

Professor of MedicinePrimary
Medicine · 2013–
Mark W. Pasmantier Professor of Hematology and Oncology in Medicine
Medicine · 2004–
Professor of Urology
Urology · 2004–
Physician
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Past Appointments

Professor of Medicine
Medicine · 2004–2013
Associate Professor of Medicine
Medicine · 1998–2004
Associate Professor of Urology
Urology · 1998–2004

Show all 7

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Medicine · 1998–1998
Assistant Professor of Urology
Urology · 1998–1998
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Medicine · 1992–1997
Instructor in Medicine
Medicine · 1989–1992

Centers

Clinical & Translational Science Center
Englander Institute for Precision Medicine
Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Centerresearch
Cancer Therapeutics

Education

M.D.
Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, 1982
B.S.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1978

Overview

Dr. Nanus is an internationally recognized leader in the treatment and care of patients with genitourinary (GU) cancers, including cancers of the prostate, kidney, bladder and testes. He is actively involved in clinical, translational and basic research in GU malignancies, serving as principle or co-investigator on a variety of clinical research trials that incorporate novel targeted therapies for his patients. Since 2004, Dr. Nanus who is The Mark W. Pasmantier Professor of Hematology and Oncology in Medicine, has served as Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is the recipient of numerous awards including membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians.

Dr. Nanus is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Chicago Medical School. After completing clinical training in Medicine at Albert Einstein and Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and research training at the Sloan Kettering Institute, he was invited to join the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 1989. Developing a program in GU cancer, he made several important contributions to clinical and basic research in kidney and prostate cancer. He was recruited to the full-time faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College in 1998.

At Weill Cornell, Dr. Nanus helped develop the Genitourinary Oncology Research Program focused on understanding the events that contribute to the progression of urologic cancers, and on developing new and more effective therapies to treat advanced prostate, kidney and bladder cancer. He was the first Weill Cornell faculty member to obtain a Mid-Career Development Award (K24) from the National Institutes of Health, in support of fostering faculty development and patient-oriented clinical and translational research in the Genitourinary Oncology program. As Director of the Genitourinary Oncology Research Laboratory, he leads a unique interdepartmental team of world class clinical researchers seeking to translate research on the molecular basis of GU cancers into improved cancer treatment.

Publications

288

Funding

23 View NIH portfolio on RePORTER ↗

Active

6 grants

Co-I
Targeted Therapies
U.S. Department of Defense · 2026–2030
HT9425-26-1-E164
Co-I
Structural Racism and Cardiovascular Outcomes Among Cancer Survivors
National Cancer Institute · 2024–2029
R37CA288492-01
PI
Metabolic and Inflammatory Response to a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet in Overweight/Obese Men with Prostate Cancer Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy: A Phase II Randomized Study
Prostate Cancer Foundation · 2022–2027
21CHAL08
Co-I
Targeted Therapies
U.S. Department of Defense · 2022–2026
W81XWH-22-2-0018
Co-I
Novel Complex Structural Variants And Epigenetic Alterations Link The Genomes Of Prostate Cancer In African Americans With Outcome Disparity.
U.S. Department of Defense · 2021–2026
W81XWH-21-1-0762
PI
Novel Approach to Improving Prostate Cancer Screening Among African American Men
U.S. Department of Defense · 2022–2026
W81XWH-22-1-0451

Completed grants (17)

Sub-PI
Development of a point-of-care PSA DetectTM Rapid Test for home screening for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood of men > 40 years old
National Cancer Institute · 2024–2025 · via Cornell University - Ithaca
75N91024C00078
Co-I
Unraveling the landscape of homologous recombination deficiency in patients with breast and prostate cancer across the African diaspora in NYC
New York Genome Center Inc. · 2020–2024
NYG 204878-01
Co-I
Immunogenomic determinants of ethnic disparities in clinical outcomes for urothelial cancer patients
New York Genome Center Inc. · 2020–2024
NYGC 211592-02
Co-I
Targeting lipid metabolism and diet in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer
Prostate Cancer Foundation · 2023–2023
PCF 227920-01
Co-I
Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) SPORE in Prostate Cancer
National Cancer Institute · 2017–2023
P50CA211024-05
PI
Prostate Cancer Clinical Consortium Clinical Research Site: Targeted Therapies
U.S. Department of Defense · 2018–2022
W81XWH-18-2-0032
Co-I
CENTER ON THE PHYSICS OF CANCER METABOLISM - CORE ADMIN
National Cancer Institute · 2016–2021 · via Cornell University - Ithaca
U54CA210184-05
KP
Healthcare Fragmentation and Cardiovascular Outcomes
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute · 2018–2020
5 R01 HL135199-03 (Div Supp)
Sub-PI
Development of Circulating Molecular Predictors of Chemotherapy and Novel Hormonal Therapy Benefit in Men With Metastatic Cancer
Prostate Cancer Foundation · 2014–2020 · via Duke University
DU 14111569-01
KP
A Randomized Phase 2 Trial of 177Lu Radiolabeled Anti-PSMA Monoclonal Antibody J591 in Patients with High-Risk Castrate Biochemically Relapsed...
U.S. Department of Defense · 2009–2019
W81XWH-09-1-0596
PI
Prostate Cancer Clinical Consortium Clinical Research Site: Targeted Therapies
U.S. Department of Defense · 2014–2018
W81XWH-14-2-0159 Yr
KP
Microtubule Dependent AR Signaling Predicts Taxane Sensitivity
National Cancer Institute · 2009–2016
R01CA137020-05
KP
Center on the Microenvironment and Metastasis
National Cancer Institute · 2009–2015 · via Cornell University - Ithaca
U54CA143876-05 EW
PI
Neutral Endopeptidase inactivation in advanced prostate
NCI · 1998–2008 · via NIH RePORTER
R01CA080240-08
MPI
PHASE II TRIAL OF 177LU-J591 IN METASTATIC, ANDROGEN-INDEPENDENT PROSTATE CANCER
NCRR · 2004–2007 · via NIH RePORTER
M01RR000047-47
PI
Modulation of retinoic acid action in renal cancer
NCI · 2001–2007 · via NIH RePORTER
R01CA092542-05
PI
ANTI TUMOR THERAPIES FOR GENIOTURINARY MALIGNANCIES
NCI · 2000–2005 · via NIH RePORTER
K24CA085608-05

Honors & distinctions

Member · American Society for Clinical Investigation · 2001
Member · Association of American Physicians

Clinical research

Active

4 studies

PI
Point-of-Care Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Testing in the Community
Weill Medical College of Cornell University · OPEN TO ACCRUAL (as of 2026)
PI
Comparison of Venipuncture Serum Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) with Point of Care _x000D_ Fingerstick Blood Draw Rapid Test for PSA (RT-PSA)
Weill Medical College of Cornell University · OPEN TO ACCRUAL (as of 2026)
PI
Clinical Database and Tissue Collection Project for the Study of Hematologic and Oncologic Disorders
Weill Medical College of Cornell University · OPEN TO ACCRUAL (as of 2026)
PI
A Phase 2a Multicenter, Dose-Escalation and Dose Optimization Study of SYNC-T Therapy SV-102 for Patients With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC)
PHASE2 · Syncromune, Inc. · OPEN TO ACCRUAL (as of 2026)
Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
NCT06533644

Completed & closed trials (5)

PI
A Phase I, Open-Label, Dose-Finding Study of TVB-2640 Administered in Combination With Enzalutamide (Xtandi) in Men With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC)
PHASE1 · Weill Medical College of Cornell University · CLOSED TO ACCRUAL (as of 2026)
Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant
NCT05743621
PI
Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet (WFPBD) to Control Weight and Metabo-Inflammation in Overweight/Obese Men With Prostate Cancer Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT): A Multi-Center Randomized Control Trial
NA · Weill Medical College of Cornell University · CLOSED TO ACCRUAL (as of 2025)
Prostate Cancer
NCT05471414
PI
Open Label Phase II Trial of Cabozantinib in Patients With Metastatic Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) and Known Amplifications or Activating Mutations in Gene Targets of Cabozantinib or Liver Metastases Who Have Received Prior Anti-Androgen Therapy
PHASE2 · Weill Medical College of Cornell University · CLOSED TO ACCRUAL (as of 2025)
Prostate Cancer
NCT04631744
PI
A Randomized Phase 2b Study of ZEN003694 in Combination With Enzalutamide Versus Enzalutamide Monotherapy in Patients With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
PHASE2 · Zenith Epigenetics · IRB STUDY CLOSURE (as of 2025)
Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
NCT04986423
PI
Randomized Phase 1b/2 Study of Nivolumab or Nivolumab Plus BMS-986253 in Combination With Intermittent Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Men With Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
PHASE1; PHASE2 · Columbia University Medical Center · CLOSED TO ACCRUAL (as of 2022)
Prostate Cancer; Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate
NCT03689699

News mentions

2 View all WCM news ↗

Prostate Cancer Foundation Awards Grants to Weill Cornell Medicine Investigators
March 26, 2026
Six researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine have received Young Investigator Awards from the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Healthy Habits: A Community Outreach Effort Promotes Positive Lifestyle Changes
August 4, 2020
Physicians and public health researchers have long sounded the alarm about the high incidence of cardiovascular disease in economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods compared with more affluent ones. But in recent years, another disturbing disparity has become increasingly evident: that residents of underserved areas are also diagnosed with cancer—and die of the disease—at disproportionate rates.

External relationships

Advisory/Scientific Board Member

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Professional Services

Genentech Inc

Other

Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP · Ahmuty, Demers & McManus · Claims and Risk Management Services · Garson & Jakub, LLP · Hall, Booth, Smith, PC · Harry S. Cohen & Associates, P.C. · McAloon & Friedman, P.C. · Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center · Office of the New York State Attorney General · Ross Feller Casey, LLP · Ruprecht Hart Weeks & Ricciardulli, LLP · Shaub, Ahmuty, Citrin & Spratt, LLP · Stockman O'Connor Connors, PLLC · Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP