Dr. David Schoenfeld is an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) at the Yale School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center, where he cares for patients with kidney cancer and melanoma and conducts basic and translational research into these diseases. He received his medical degree and a Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies from Columbia University as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program. He conducted his Ph.D. research in the lab of Dr. Ramon Parsons, investigating mechanisms of tumor suppression by PBRM1, a subunit of a large SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex that is recurrently mutated in cancer, particularly clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Dr. Schoenfeld then joined the ABIM Physician-Scientist Training Program at Yale through which he completed Internal Medicine residency and Hematology/Oncology fellowship training, under the clinical and research mentorship of Dr. Harriet Kluger. He has extensive scientific training in molecular and cellular biology, epigenetics, and cellular immunology. Dr. Schoenfeld’s research aims to gain a better understanding of the tumor immune microenvironment in renal cell carcinoma, develop better biomarkers of response to immunotherapy, and bring new immunotherapies to patients through preclinical studies and early phase clinical trials. For his work with the AKCI, he is investigating the efficacy and basis for anti-tumor immunity of a decoy-resistant IL-18 in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors in murine and ex vivo patient-derived models of renal cell carcinoma. Through these efforts, Dr. Schoenfeld hopes to provide a solid scientific foundation to rapidly initiate an early phase clinical trial testing the most promising regimens in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.