Ann M. Gillenwater, MD
Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Professor, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Detection and treatment of early oral cancer and precancer
Developing optical imaging for oral cancer detection
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 1987 | University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA, MD, Medicine |
| 1983 | Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, BA, Russian Studies |
Postgraduate Training
| 1993-1994 | Clinical Fellowship, Dept. of Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 1992-1993 | Research Fellowship, Dept. of Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 1989-1992 | Otolaryngology Resident, Dept. of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, UT Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX |
| 1987-1989 | Surgical Internship, Dept. of General Surgery, UT Health Science Center At Houston, Houston, TX |
Board Certifications
| 1993 | American Board of Otolaryngology - Lifetime Boards |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Director, Oral Cancer Prevention Center, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2006 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2024 | Ranked in top 10% nationally by Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, CGCAHPS |
| 2023 | Top Doctor of Houston - Otolaryngology, Castle Connolly |
| 2023 | Ranked in top 1% nationally by Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, CGCAHPS |
| 2021 | Service Award, American Head and Neck Society, Cancer Prevention Service, American Head and Neck Society |
| 2020 | MDACC President’s recognition of Faculty Excellence in Prevention Outreach |
| 2018 | 2018 Top Performers, Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CGCAHPS) |
| 2002 | Honor Award, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery |
| 2001 | UT MD Anderson Educator of the Month Award, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 1996 | Triological Society Research Training Award |
| 1982 | Phi Beta Kappa, Brown University |
Professional Memberships
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Member, 2002 - Present
Association of Women Surgeons
Member, 2002 - Present
American Association for Cancer Research
Member, 1996 - 2024
American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Member, 1996 - Present
American Head and Neck Society
Member, 1996 - Present
American Medical Association
Member, 1995 - Present
Harris County Medical Society, Houston, TX
Member, 1993 - Present
Texas Medical Association, Houston, TX
Member, 1993 - Present
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Mitbander R, Brenes D, Coole JB, Kortum A, Vohra IS, Carns J, Schwarz RA, Varghese I, Durab S, Anderson S, Bass NE, Clayton AD, Badaoui H, Anandasivam L, Giese RA, Gillenwater AM, Vigneswaran N, Richards-Kortum R. Development and Evaluation of an Automated Multimodal Mobile Detection of Oral Cancer (mDOC) Imaging System to Aid in Risk-based Management of Oral Mucosal Lesions. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39817650.
- Hou H, Carns J, Schwarz RA, Gillenwater AM, Anandasabapathy S, Richards-Kortum RR. Use of topical methylene blue to image nuclear morphometry with a low-cost scanning darkfield microendoscope. J Biomed Opt 29(5):050501, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38774711.
- Jin L, Tang Y, Coole JB, Tan MT, Zhao X, Badaoui H, Robinson JT, Williams MD, Vigneswaran N, Gillenwater AM, Richards-Kortum RR, Veeraraghavan A. DeepDOF-SE: affordable deep-learning microscopy platform for slide-free histology. Nat Commun 15(1):2935, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38580633.
- Hou H, Tang Y, Coole JB, Kortum A, Schwarz RA, Carns J, Gillenwater AM, Ramalingam P, Milbourne A, Salcedo MP, Schmeler KM, Richards-Kortum RR. Scanning darkfield high-resolution microendoscope for label-free microvascular imaging. Biomed Opt Express 14(10):5097-5112, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37854554.
- Mansour J, Nesbitt B, Khanjae S, Horowitz G, Amit M, Muhanna N, Hofstede TM, Gillenwater A. The Feasibility and Outcome of Integra® Bilayer Matrix in the Reconstruction of Oral Cavity Defects. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37717219.
- Zhang X, Gleber-Netto FO, Wang S, Jin KW, Yang DM, Gillenwater AM, Myers JN, Ferrarotto R, Pickering CR, Xiao G. A Deep Learning Onion Peeling Approach to Measure Oral Epithelium Layer Number. Cancers (Basel) 15(15), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37568707.
- William WN, Zhang J, Zhao X, Parra ER, Uraoka N, Lin HY, Peng SA, El-Naggar AK, Rodriguez-Canales J, Song J, Gillenwater AM, Wistuba II, Myers JN, Gold KA, Ferrarotto R, Hwu P, Davoli T, Lee JJ, Heymach JV, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Lippman SM. Spatial PD-L1, immune-cell microenvironment, and genomic copy-number alteration patterns and drivers of invasive-disease transition in prospective oral precancer cohort. Cancer. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36597662.
- Zhang X, Gleber-Netto FO, Wang S, Martins-Chaves RR, Gomez RS, Vigneswaran N, Sarkar A, William WN, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Williams M, Bell D, Palsgrove D, Bishop J, Heymach JV, Gillenwater AM, Myers JN, Ferrarotto R, Lippman SM, Pickering CR, Xiao G. Deep learning-based pathology image analysis predicts cancer progression risk in patients with oral leukoplakia. Cancer Med 12(6):7508-18. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36721313.
- Brenes DR, Nipper AJ, Tan MT, Gleber-Netto FO, Schwarz RA, Pickering CR, Williams MD, Vigneswaran N, Gillenwater AM, Sikora AG, Richards-Kortum RR. Mildly dysplastic oral lesions with optically-detectable abnormalities share genetic similarities with severely dysplastic lesions. Oral Oncol 135:106232. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36335817.
- Contrera KJ, Zafereo ME, Yaniv D, Roberts DB, Gillenwater AM, Hanna EY, Weber RS, Myers JN, Chang EI, Garvey PB, Hanasono MM, Yu P, Hutcheson KA, Fuller CD, Tyler MA, Neskey DM. Outcomes for recurrent oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. Oral Oncol 134:106127, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36155359.
- Wise-Draper TM, Gulati S, Palackdharry S, Hinrichs BH, Worden FP, Old MO, Dunlap NE, Kaczmar JM, Patil Y, Riaz MK, Tang A, Mark J, Zender C, Gillenwater AM, Bell D, Kurtzweil N, Mathews M, Allen CL, Mierzwa ML, Casper K, Jandarov R, Medvedovic M, Lee JJ, Harun N, Takiar V, Gillison M. Phase II Clinical Trial of Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Resectable Local-Regionally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 28(7):1345-1352, 2022. PMID: 35338369.
- Contrera KJ, Chinn SB, Weber RS, Roberts D, Myers JN, Lai SY, Lewis CM, Hessel AC, Gillenwater AM, Mulcahy CF, Yu P, Hanasono MM, Fuller CD, Chambers MS, Zafereo ME. Outcomes after definitive surgery for mandibular osteoradionecrosis. Head Neck. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35238096.
- Cognetti DM, Johnson JM, Curry JM, Kochuparambil ST, McDonald D, Mott F, Fidler MJ, Stenson K, Vasan NR, Razaq MA, Campana J, Ha P, Mann G, Ishida K, Garcia-Guzman M, Biel M, Gillenwater AM. Phase 1/2a, open-label, multicenter study of RM-1929 photoimmunotherapy in patients with locoregional, recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Head Neck 43(12):3875-3887, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34626024.
- Dahlstrom KR, Anderson KS, Guo M, Kwon MC, Messick CA, Pettaway CA, Asomaning N, Hopper M, Price A, Xu L, Day AT, Gillenwater AM, Sturgis EM. Screening for HPV-related oropharyngeal, anal, and penile cancers in middle-aged men: Initial report from the HOUSTON clinical trial. Oral Oncol 120:105397. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34182223.
- Abdelmeguid AS, Silver NL, Boonsripitayanon M, Glisson BS, Ferrarotto R, Gunn GB, Phan J, Gillenwater AM, Hanna EY. Role of induction chemotherapy for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33909292.
- Sweeney KJ, Tetzlaff MT, Vega F, Gillenwater A, Zuo Z, Gross N, Nagarajan P, Wargo J, Nelson K, Prieto VG, Torres-Cabala CA, Curry JL. Tertiary lymphoid structures with overlapping histopathologic features of cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma during neoadjuvant cemiplimab therapy is associated with antitumor response. J Cutan Pathol. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33399228.
- Quinlan-Davidson SR, Morrison WH, Myers JN, Gunn GB, William WN, Beadle BM, Skinner HD, Gillenwater AM, Frank SJ, Phan J, Johnson FM, Fuller CD, Zafereo ME, Rosenthal DI, Garden AS. Recurrent oral cavity cancer: Patterns of failure after salvage multimodality therapy. Head Neck 39(4):633-638, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 28006086.
- Kawedia JD, Zhang YP, Myers AL, Richards-Kortum RR, Kramer MA, Gillenwater AM, Culotta KS. Physical and chemical stability of proflavine contrast agent solutions for early detection of oral cancer. J Oncol Pharm Pract 22(1):21-5, 2016. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25113309.
- William WN, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Lee JJ, Mao L, Cohen EE, Lin HY, Gillenwater AM, Martin JW, Lingen MW, Boyle JO, Shin DM, Vigneswaran N, Shinn N, Heymach JV, Wistuba II, Tang X, Kim ES, Saintigny P, Blair EA, Meiller T, Gutkind JS, Myers J, El-Naggar A, Lippman SM. Erlotinib and the Risk of Oral Cancer: The Erlotinib Prevention of Oral Cancer (EPOC) Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncol 2(2):1-8, 2016. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26540028.
- Lukianova-Hleb EY, Kim YS, Belatsarkouski I, Gillenwater AM, O'Neill BE, Lapotko DO. Intraoperative diagnostics and elimination of residual microtumours with plasmonic nanobubbles. Nat Nanotechnol. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26878142.
- Shinn EH, Valentine A, Jethanandani A, Basen-Engquist K, Fellman B, Urbauer D, Atkinson E, Yusuf SW, Lenihan D, Woods ML, Kies MS, Sood AK, Carmack C, Morrison WH, Gillenwater A, Sturgis EM, Garden AS. Depression and Oropharynx Cancer Outcome. Psychosom Med 78(1):38-48, 2016. PMID: 26632757.
- Ishijima A, Schwarz RA, Shin D, Mondrik S, Vigneswaran N, Gillenwater AM, Anandasabapathy S, Richards-Kortum R. Automated frame selection process for high-resolution microendoscopy. J Biomed Opt 20(4):46014, 2015. PMID: 25919426.
- Floriano P, Abram T, Taylor L, Le C, Talavera H, Nguyen M, Raja R, Gillenwater A, McDevitt J, Vigneswaran N. Programmable Bio-Nano-Chip based Cytologic Testing of Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders in Fanconi Anemia. Oral Dis. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25662766.
- Bishop AJ, Garden AS, Gunn GB, Rosenthal DI, Beadle BM, Fuller CD, Levy LB, Gillenwater AM, Kies MS, Esmaeli B, Frank SF, Phan J, Morrison WH. Merkel cell carcinoma of the head and neck: Favorable outcomes with radiotherapy. Head Neck. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25645649.
- Gillenwater AM, Zhong M, Lotan R. Histone deacetylase inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid induces apoptosis through both mitochondrial and Fas (Cd95) signaling in head and neck squamous carcionoma cells. Mol Cancer Ther 6(11):2967-2975, 2007. PMID: 18025281.
Other Articles
- Gillenwater AM, Vigneswaran N, Fatani H, Saintigny P, El-Naggar AK Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL): Recognition and differentiation from conventional leukoplakia and mimics!. Head Neck 36(11):1662-8, 2014. PMID: 24115154.
Book Chapters
- Schwarz RA, Richards-Kortum RR, Gillenwater AM. Fluorescence and Reflectance Spectroscopy for Detection of Oral Dysplasia and Cancer. In: Biomedical Optics in Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Springer: New York, 431-450, 2016.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2025 - 2028 |
| Title: | A Phase 3 Multicenter, Randomized, Open-label Study of ASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy in Combination with Pembrolizumab Versus Standard of Care in the First-line Treatment of Patients with Locoregional Recurrence of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (HNSCC) With No Distant Metastases |
| Funding Source: | Rakuten Medical, Inc |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
| ID: | 2024-1642 |
| Date: | 2024 - 2029 |
| Title: | AccessPath: A Low-Cost, Rugged, End-to-End System for Slide-Free Pathology Based on Computational Microscopy and Pan-Cancer Targeted Vital Dyes - Phase 1 |
| Funding Source: | ARPA-H PSI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| ID: | D24AC00296 |
| Date: | 2023 - 2028 |
| Title: | The Center for Innovation and Translation of Point of Care Technologies for Equitable Cancer Care |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | 1U54EB034652 |
| Date: | 2023 - 2026 |
| Title: | Deep Learning Image Analysis Algorithms to Improve Oral Cancer Risk Assessment for Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDCR |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | R01-DE030656 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2027 |
| Title: | Deep Learning Microscope for Slide-free and Digital Histology |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |
| ID: | 1R01DE032051-01 |
| Date: | 2021 - 2026 |
| Title: | Developing a Clinical Trial Platform for Local Delivery of Immunotherapy |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| ID: | RP210176 |
| Date: | 2020 - 2025 |
| Title: | An Open-label Study using ASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy in Combination with anti-PD1 Therapy in EGFR Expressing Advanced Solid Tumors |
| Funding Source: | Rakuten Medical, Inc |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| ID: | 2020-0650 |
| Date: | 2019 - 2026 |
| Title: | A phase 3, Randomized, Double-Arm, Open-Label, Controlled Trial of ASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy Versus Physician's Choice Standard of Care for the Treatment of Locoregional, Recurrent Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Patients Who Have Failed or Progressed on or After Two Lines of Therapy |
| Funding Source: | Rakuten Medical, Inc |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| ID: | 2018-1086 |
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CV information above last modified March 28, 2025
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