President Peter WT Pisters, M.D., M.H.C.M.

President Peter WT Pisters, M.D., M.H.C.M., C.P.E, F.A.C.S., F.A.C.H.E., F.A.A.P.L., is a distinguished cancer surgeon, researcher, professor and hospital administrator. He leads The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the top-ranked cancer center in the U.S., influencing the oncology landscape nationally and internationally.

Pisters served more than 20 years as a UT MD Anderson faculty member and medical director, helping guide the institution’s expansion across metropolitan Houston. Originally arriving at UT MD Anderson in 1994, Pisters joined the faculty as an assistant professor of Surgery and rose to full professor with tenure in 2004. His research, focused on sarcomas, gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and other malignancies, has resulted in nearly 400 peer-reviewed and additional articles, book chapters, teaching aids and other publications. He specialized in helping patients with sarcomas and GI cancers and remains a board-certified surgeon.

He later served as president and CEO of University Health Network, Canada’s largest research hospital, before returning to UT MD Anderson as president on Dec. 1, 2017. His appointment to the presidential post followed an international search and unanimous naming as sole finalist by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. In this role as president, Pisters reports to The University of Texas System Chancellor and serves as UT MD Anderson's Governing Body.

Under his leadership, annual revenues have grown to more than $8 billion, the research enterprise exceeds $1.3 billion in investments, and the institution has held the U.S. News and World Report number one cancer ranking for eleven consecutive years. Five consecutive five-star Vizient ratings and a 2025 ANCC Magnet Recognition with Distinction reflect sustained operational excellence. He has spearheaded transformative initiatives including a strategic collaboration with UT Dell Medical Center to bring UT MD Anderson's research-driven cancer care to Austin and Central Texas; Kinder Children’s Cancer Center, UT MD Anderson’s joint venture with Texas Children’s dedicated to ending childhood cancer; the launch of the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation to lead the world in developing impactful cell therapies; a successful pilot patient navigation program for newly diagnosed cancer patients; and the expansion of a collaborative network to advance our mission, with several U.S. health systems and a variety of global organizations.

Pisters calls on healthcare leaders to dedicate more attention to developing new treatments, delivering high-quality care and focusing on preventing cancer. He meets with elected officials and policymakers to educate them on important topics that may result in policy changes, including healthcare reimbursement models, federal and state research funding, innovative approaches to clinical trials, cancer prevention and establishing national standards for oncology goals-of-care.

His leadership has earned recognition across professional and civic spheres. In 2026, he received the Society of Surgical Oncology’s Charles M. Balch Distinguished Service Award, the field’s highest individual honor. Pisters is regularly included on leadership lists, including Modern Healthcare’s 2025 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review’s 2026 Great Leaders in Healthcare. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and the American Association for Physician Leadership, and serves on the boards of the Greater Houston Partnership and the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. Pisters is also part of the Telluride Science Depot Advisory Board.

He earned his medical degree from Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in Ontario, Canada, and received a master’s degree in healthcare administration from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA. He completed postgraduate training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, where he served as chief administrative fellow.