Surgical Oncology Fellow
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houton, Texas, United States
Laurence P. Diggs, MD completed his general surgery residency at Rutgers University School of Medicine and is currently completing fellowship training in Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He has a particular interest in hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal malignancies and a research interest in tumor immunology, the tumor microenvironment, and immune-based cancer therapies. Dr. Diggs also completed a research fellowship with the Surgical Oncology Program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he conducted basic and translational research in tumor immunology, hepatic malignancies, and the gut microbiome. His work established preclinical models to investigate platelet-mediated antitumor immune surveillance, leading to key insights into innate immune mechanisms in cancer. Building on these findings, he led translational studies evaluating combination immunotherapy strategies for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and received funding from the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation to develop novel preclinical models. This work supported the initiation of a Phase II clinical trial combining CD40 agonists with immune checkpoint blockade in biliary tract cancers. He was awarded the NCI Surgeon-Scientist Award in 2020. At MD Anderson, Dr. Diggs continues to integrate the surgical management of gastrointestinal cancers with translational research and early-phase clinical trial development. He is the recipient of a T32 research fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer Wargo and is involved in multiple immunotherapy- and microbiome-focused clinical trials. His ongoing work includes collaborative trial development in immunotherapy and studies evaluating microbiome modulation in patients with cholangiocarcinoma and with rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. His academic career is focused on advancing immune-based strategies through multidisciplinary surgical oncology research and clinical translation for patients with primary and metastatic hepatobiliary malignancies.
Friday, March 6, 2026
3:51 PM - 3:55 PM MST