John Deeken, MD, joined the Inova Health System in 2013 and currently has more than 18 years of clinical experience in internal medicine and medical oncology. He serves as the President of the Inova Schar Cancer Institute (Inova Schar), which includes leading  the Inova Cancer Service Line, the Medical Director for the Inova Schar Head and Neck Cancer Program, and as a Senior Vice President for the Inova Health System.

John's clinical research focuses on the use of immunotherapies to treat the growing epidemic of head and neck cancers caused by HPV. This includes understanding the tumor mutations that are induced by HPV infection and how those tumors can be better treated with immunotherapies and targeted therapies. He believes that gaining a better understanding of genomic factors may explain who might be at risk for developing HPV-caused Head and Neck cancer, as well as the prognosis and treatment options for those patients who do develop this disease.  He has over 60 peer reviewed publications in translational and clinical research.

John served on the national Head and Neck Cancer Scientific Committee for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as well as ASCO’s Government Relations Committee. He currently serves on the FDA’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC).  Prior to joining Inova, he was Director of the Head and Neck Medical Oncology Program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University.  He also served as Regional Director for Medical Oncology for Medstar Health, and Director for Clinical Operations for the Medstar Georgetown University Cancer Network. He currently serves as Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia and the Virginia Commonwealth University.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with Honors and Distinction with a degree in Philosophy. He received a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Georgetown University, where he also did his residency training in Internal Medicine. He completed fellowship training in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute.

A native of Wisconsin, John is married and has four children.