Paul Spellman

Paul Spellman, PhD, is Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics in the Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He currently serves as Director of Precision Health at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Associate Director of Population Genomics Research at the Institute of Precision Health at UCLA. 

Spellman earned his SB degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Biology in 1995, and his PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine in Genetics in 2000, where he was a postdoctoral fellow (2000–2003). He joined the UCLA faculty as a professor in 2023. Prior to joining UCLA, he was a Professor of Molecular and Medical Genetics at OHSU (2011–2023), and in 2011, he served six months at the National Cancer Institute.

In his lab, Spellman works to apply genomic and computational technologies to improve outcomes for people with cancer. His research emphasis is on technology/method development, including the application of technologies to answer critical questions in cancer biology and population studies to understand the impact of genetic variation of disease, as well the implementation of trials that directly impact health. A team scientist, Spellman publishes extensively; there are more than 85,000 citations of his works, with more than 10,000 new citations per year. He currently is a Co-PI on a large national project focused on the cost effectiveness and sustainability of population screening for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Spellman has received numerous honors for his work as a scientist and researcher, including the Penny and Phil Knight Endowed Professor of Cancer Research Innovation (2018–2023), and in 2020, the AACR Team Science Award for extraordinary leadership in conceptualizing and implementing the Cancer Genome Atlas Pilot Project. He is currently a member of the International Cancer Genomics Consortium Scientific Steering Committee, an Internal Advisory Board member of the Pacific Northwest Prostate Cancer SPORE, and an External Advisory Board Member of CPC-GENE.