The Harrington Lecture
The Harrington Lecture (formerly Spring Clinical Day) is made possible by DeVillo W. Harrington, MD's lectureship endowment. This endowment is one of the school’s largest and oldest funds, which was created to bring notable speakers to Buffalo who can share their medical knowledge with the community.
Featuring Monica Bertagnolli, MD
President-Elect, National Academy of Medicine
Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery Emerita, Harvard Medical School
17th Director of the National Institutes of Health
16th Director of the National Cancer Institute
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, is a surgical oncologist and cancer researcher currently serving as the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery Emerita at Harvard Medical School and a Senior Fellow in Healthcare Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Dr. Bertagnolli was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021 and in 2025 she was chosen to be the Academy’s 11th President, a position she will assume in July, 2026. From November 2023 - January 2025 she was the 17th director of the National Institutes of Health. Prior to this, she was the director of the National Cancer Institute and Chief of Surgical Oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Throughout her career, Dr. Bertagnolli has been at the forefront of the field of translational oncology. Her clinical practice of surgery focused on caring for people with hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes, particularly those involving gastrointestinal cancers and soft tissue sarcomas. Her research laboratory examined the relationship between tissue inflammation and tumorigenesis, leading her to pursue clinical trials demonstrating the effects of anti-inflammatory drugs for cancer prevention and treatment.
From 2011-2022 she served as the Group Chair of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a nationwide network addressing the needs of people with cancer by conducting clinical and translational research across many cancer types. Over the past decade, she has championed collaborative initiatives to enable a learning healthcare system by transforming the data infrastructure for clinical research, and currently serves as CEO of GHDE, a nonprofit foundation engaging health systems in collaborative research using data obtained from clinical care settings.
She is a past President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the National Cancer Society, Prevent Cancer Foundation, Natera, and Friends of Cancer Research. Dr. Bertagnolli is a member of the Accademia Nazionale de Lincei and the American Adacemy of Achievement, and in 2023 she was awarded the title of Cavaliere, Ordine al Merito Della Repubblica Italiana.
She graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree and attended medical school at the University of Utah. Dr. Bertagnolli trained in surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital and was a research fellow in tumor immunology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Event Details
Date: May 2, 2026
Time: 9–11 a.m
Location: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 955 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14203
The morning will include breakfast, networking, school tours, and the DW Harrington Lecture.
Please join us later for our 180th anniversary event: A Night of Distinction and Distinguished Award Ceremony.
Who Should Attend?
All alumni, faculty, residents, staff, students and community are invited to attend this event.
Note: Continuing education credits will be available.
About DeVillo W. Harrington, MD
Harrington served as the President of the Alumni Association and started this endowment to commemorate his 25th anniversary of his graduation in 1871.
This event is a collaboration between partners in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the University at Buffalo’s Office of Alumni Engagement.