President
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas, United States
Peter WT Pisters, M.D., M.H.C.M., has served as president of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas since December 2017. A renowned cancer surgeon, researcher, professor and administrator, Dr. Pisters established his career at MD Anderson, serving more than 20 years as a faculty member and medical director for the center’s expansion in metropolitan Houston. He left MD Anderson to serve as president and CEO of the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada’s largest research hospital, before returning to MD Anderson.
With MD Anderson’s 22,000 people as his priority, Dr. Pisters has cultivated a diverse and engaged executive team and championed benefits and continuous growth for employees. He has built an inclusive environment within the organization while also prioritizing relationships with government, industry and community partners to thrive in the rapidly changing health care and research environments.
Dr. Pisters earned his medical degree at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry in Canada and did postgraduate work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He received a master’s degree in health care management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Like many health care institutions around the nation, MD Anderson has felt the weight of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Under Dr. Pisters’ leadership, MD Anderson employees have come together to protect the patients and community they serve, while supporting the institution’s efforts to forge a data-driven path to recovery. Knowing that MD Anderson has one of the largest immunocompromised populations in the world, Dr. Pisters has remained focused on leading through this crisis and sustaining the institution’s role as one of the safest healthcare environments in the nation for cancer patients, all while ensuring the safety, security, emotional and physical health of MD Anderson’s employees.
Surgeons Leading Outside of the OR: Leading a Major Academic Cancer Center
Thursday, March 21, 2024
12:00pm – 1:00pm ET