Christopher R. Flowers MD, MS

Christopher Flowers, MD, MS, joined The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in August 2019 as Chair of the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma and was appointed Division Head ad interim of Cancer Medicine in August 2020. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Flowers’ leadership contributed to the institution’s recovery in patient volume while maintaining accelerated safety measures. Prior to MD Anderson, he was professor of Hematology and Oncology with a joint appointment in Biomedical Informatics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. During his tenure there, he served as director of the Winship Cancer Institute Lymphoma Program for 13 years and as scientific director of Research Informatics for four years. An internationally recognized expert in lymphoma clinical care, epidemiology and outcomes research, Dr. Flowers is an innovator who has a passion for facilitating new drug development. He is an active clinician who conducts clinical research involving cancer outcomes, cancer informatics, and phase 1/2 trials, focusing on the clinical development of novel therapeutics for B-cell lymphomas. His broader research interests include patient-oriented outcomes in lymphoma and computer microsimulation models, and cost-effectiveness analyses aimed at developing strategies to individualize care for cancer patients and improve systems of care. His work has resulted in >300 peer-reviewed publications. He has received peer-reviewed funding from foundations and the NIH including leading multi-institutional team science grants such as the Lymphoma Epidemiology of Outcomes (LEO) Cohort Study, the largest prospective study of lymphoma patients in the United States.

Dr. Flowers earned his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine where he also completed an MSc in Medical Informatics to gain expertise developing information systems to improve clinical research. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he continued his research training as a fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and earned a second master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy. During this time, he also completed his fellowship in Medical Oncology from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Flowers has served in many capacities for national professional societies and was elected to membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation. In 2018, he was named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and served as chair of both the ASCO guidelines on management of febrile neutropenia and ASCO Health Disparities Committee. In the American Society of Hematology, Dr. Flowers has served as educational co-chair for the annual meeting, a longstanding faculty member and co-director of the Clinical Research Training Institute, and Chair of the Committee on Promoting Diversity. In each of these roles, he has committed to training and developing new leaders in hematology and oncology clinical research.