Rate My Professor Wendell Yarbrough

Wendell G. Yarbrough, MD, MMHC, FACS, serves as the Thomas J. Dark Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. A two-time alumnus of UNC-Chapel Hill, he earned his MD from the UNC School of Medicine in 1989, graduating with honors and distinction. He completed an internship in general surgery (1989-1990), residency in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery (1990-1994), and fellowship in surgical oncology (1994-1996), all at UNC Hospitals. He later obtained a Master of Management in Health Care from Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management in 2010. His distinguished career spans multiple leading institutions: early faculty roles at UNC in otolaryngology, genetics, and biochemistry (1996-2003); associate and full professor positions at Vanderbilt University, including Ingram Professor of Cancer Research (2006-2012) and director of the Barry Baker Laboratory of Head and Neck Oncology; and at Yale School of Medicine as professor of otolaryngology and pathology (2012-2018), section chief of otolaryngology, director of the Head and Neck Disease Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital, and co-director of the Virus and Other Infection-associated Cancers Program at Yale Cancer Center. In 2018, he returned to UNC as department chair and established the Head and Neck Oncology Laboratory at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center with Dr. Natalia Issaeva.

Dr. Yarbrough is a surgeon-scientist with over two decades of research in head and neck surgery and cancer cell biology, focusing on human papillomavirus-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HPV+ HNSCC). His laboratory investigates molecular subtypes defined by NF-κB pathway activity, which correlate with survival differences, HPV integration, mutations, and methylation patterns; key findings include NF-κB activation sensitizing cells to radiation. He leads multiple NIH-funded projects, including Head and Neck Cancer SPORE (P50-DE030707, 2020-2025), R01-DE027942 on demethylation therapies (2019-2024), and R01-DE031297 on NF-κB in HPV+ HNSCC (2023-2027), with recent grants exceeding $9 million. Author of over 180 PubMed-indexed publications, notable works include 'Noncanonical HPV carcinogenesis drives radiosensitization of head and neck tumors' (PNAS, 2023), 'Poor oral health influences head and neck cancer patient survival: an International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium pooled analysis' (JNCI, 2024), and contributions to TCGA analyses. His accolades include repeated Castle Connolly 'America’s Top Doctors for Cancer' (2005-2018), Harris P. Mosher Award for clinical research excellence (2002), Presidential Citation from the American Head and Neck Society (2014), and Jefferson Pilot Fellowship (2000). Dr. Yarbrough's translational efforts advance personalized therapies and clinical trials for head and neck cancers.