{"entity":{"id":"ravindra-uppaluri","kind":"person","name":"Ravindra Uppaluri","aka":[],"tldr":"Surgeon-scientist who led the first neoadjuvant pembrolizumab trial in head and neck cancer and the KEYNOTE-689 study that made it standard.","summary":"Ravindra Uppaluri led the first window-of-opportunity trial of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab in resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, defining pathological response as a marker, and was global principal investigator of KEYNOTE-689, which showed perioperative pembrolizumab improves event-free survival in locally advanced resectable disease, the first new curative-intent approach in two decades. His laboratory studies immune escape in head and neck cancer.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Uppaluri%20R%5BAuthor%5D%20neoadjuvant%20pembrolizumab%20head%20neck"}],"tags":["head-and-neck","surgery","neoadjuvant"],"related":[],"cancers":["head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":["checkpoint-inhibitor"],"targets":["pd1"],"drugs":["pembrolizumab"],"companies":[],"institutions":["dana-farber"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["keynote-689"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Chief of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute","institutionId":"dana-farber","specialisms":["Head and neck surgery","Neoadjuvant immunotherapy","Tumour immunology","Pathological response"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Uppaluri%20R%5BAuthor%5D%20neoadjuvant%20pembrolizumab%20head%20neck"}],"papers":[{"title":"Neoadjuvant and adjuvant pembrolizumab in advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (KEYNOTE-689)","journal":"NEJM","year":2025},{"title":"Neoadjuvant and adjuvant pembrolizumab in resectable locally advanced, human papillomavirus-unrelated head and neck cancer: a multicenter, phase II trial","journal":"Clinical Cancer Research","year":2020,"doi":"10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-1695"}],"orcid":"0000-0001-5988-6828"},"route":"/people/ravindra-uppaluri/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"}],"technology":[{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"}],"target":[{"id":"pd1","kind":"target","name":"PD-1","route":"/targets/pd1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"pembrolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Pembrolizumab","route":"/drugs/pembrolizumab/"}],"institution":[{"id":"dana-farber","kind":"institution","name":"Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/dana-farber/"}],"trial":[{"id":"keynote-689","kind":"trial","name":"KEYNOTE-689","route":"/trials/keynote-689/"}]}}