2022 Distinguished Alumni

Richard

Gaynor

Richard Gaynor is a 1971 graduate of Texas Tech, earning his biology degree with honors. He went on to receive his MD from UT Southwestern Medical School, followed by an internship and residency in internal medicine at Parkland Hospital in Dallas before completing a fellowship in hematology-oncology at UCLA medical school where he also went on to spend a decade as a faculty member.

In 1991, he returned to UT Southwestern as the chief of molecular virology and was later promoted to the positions of professor of medicine and microbiology and later chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology. Next, came the appointment as director of the Simmons Cancer Center where he coordinated the cancer research and clinical programs at UT Southwestern.

In 2002, he accepted a role as vice president of cancer research and clinical development at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis and later advanced to the role of senior vice president of oncology clinical and product development, where he led teams that developed drugs for various cancers.

He retired from Eli Lilly in 2016 and became the president of research and development at the Boston-based company of Neon, which focused on developing new therapies for cancer based on novel immunotherapy approaches. Neon was acquired by BioNTech in 2020, where he is currently president and chief of research and development. His group has continued its focus on cancer research in addition to pursuing novel vaccine approaches for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

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