George Peoples
Executive Medical Director, Oncology Center of Excellence
Dr. George E. Peoples is a physician‑scientist with extensive experience in oncology, cancer immunotherapy, and clinical research. With more than two decades of work in cancer vaccine and immunotherapy development, his career has focused on advancing innovative programs from early-stage research into clinical evaluation.
As Executive Medical Director of Avance Clinical’s Oncology Centre of Excellence, Dr. Peoples provides medical and scientific leadership across the organization’s global oncology portfolio, supporting the advancement of innovative cancer therapies.
Dr. Peoples served 30 years of active duty in the U.S. military as a surgeon and research scientist, retiring at the rank of Colonel. He is the Founder and Director of the Cancer Vaccine Development Program (CVDP), which has more than 20 years of experience in discovering, developing, and clinically testing cancer vaccines—four of which have been licensed for commercial development.
Following his military retirement, he founded LumaBridge (formerly Cancer Insight), an oncology-focused CRO and development partner engaged with more than 25 pre‑clinical and clinical trial sponsors. He held senior leadership positions within the organization, contributing to the advancement of multiple immunotherapy development programs.
Dr. Peoples serves as a Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and as Professor (adjunct) of Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). He is the past Chair of the Cancer Care Program at the San Antonio Military Medical Center and the past Military Director of the United States Military Cancer Institute.
He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed his surgical training at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a surgical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
He has written extensively on the immune response to cancer, with more than 350 peer‑reviewed manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters.