Center for
Global Health

Scholar

Languages: English (native)

Bio statement

Lawrence N. Shulman, MD is Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, Associate Director for Special Projects of the Abramson Cancer Center. He also serves as Co-Director of the Penn Center for Global Oncology and is an Innovation Faculty member at the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation (PC3I). A practicing medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer, his research focuses on innovations in cancer care delivery and the implementation of cancer treatment programs in low-resource settings.

Dr. Shulman is the immediate past Chair of the Commission on Cancer and currently serves on the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the former Chair of both the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality of Care Committee and the Commission on Cancer’s Quality Integration Committee, and serves on the Best Practices Committee of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). From 2014–2017, he led the World Health Organization’s review and revision of the Essential Medicines List for Cancer. He has also served on ASCO’s International Affairs Committee and its Task Force on Global Oncology as an Academic Career.

Globally, Dr. Shulman serves as Senior Oncology Advisor to Partners In Health (PIH), where he has played a seminal leadership role in establishing national cancer treatment programs with the Ministries of Health in Rwanda, Haiti, and Lesotho. He also serves on the Vice Chancellor’s Advisory Council for Rwanda’s University for Global Health Equity. In addition, he helps lead the development of the national oncology program in Botswana through the Botswana–Penn Partnership, working to build sustainable cancer care capacity in partnership with local health systems.

Dr. Shulman received his MD from Harvard Medical School and completed his training in Hematology and Oncology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, MA.

Recent global health projects

Read Dr. Shulman's recent blog post on his breast cancer work in Rwanda.

Establishment and improvement of cancer care delivery for Rwanda and Haiti.

Helping the American Society of Clinical Oncology define and develop an academic track for global cancer medicine.

Selected publications

Desai AN, Jacobs E, Ogedegbe O, Rubenfeld G, Berlin J, Shulman L, O'Cearbhaill R, Studenski S, Powell E, Mmeje O, Trueger NS, Chino F, Perlis R, Fihn S, Perencevich E. The Global Public Health Imperative-Where Do We Go From Here? JAMA Netw Open. 2025 May 1;8(5):e2517283. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.17283. PMID: 40445627.

Bhangdia K, Natarajan A, Rudolfson N, Verguet S, Castro MC, Dusengimana JV, Shyirambere C, Schleimer LE, Shulman LN, Umwizerwa A, Kigonya C, Butonzi J, MacDuffie E, Fadelu T, O'Neil DS, Nguyen C, Mpunga T, Keating NL, Pace LE. The association of travel distance and other patient characteristics with breast cancer stage at diagnosis and treatment completion at a rural Rwandan cancer facility. BMC Cancer. 2025 Jan 27;25(1):146. doi: 10.1186/s12885-025-13489-2. PMID: 39865262.

Pain D, MacDuffie E, Martei YM, Kassick M, Ikeda DJ, Shulman LN, Salazar LL, Diaz Pardo D, Nag S, Grover S. Barriers to Implementing a Quality Improvement Program in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Adequacy of Resources. JCO Glob Oncol. 2024 Oct;10:e2400114. doi: 10.1200/GO.24.00114. Epub 2024 Oct 24.PMID: 39447091.

Castillo BS, Boadi T, Han X, Shulman LN, Martei YM. Racial Disparities in Receipt of Guideline-Concordant Care in Older Adults With Early Breast Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Oct 1;7(10):e2441056. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.41056. PMID: 39446324.

Bourlon MT, Bhatt AS, Lopes G, Asirwa FC, Eniu AE, Loehrer PJ, Shulman LN, Close J, Von Roenn J, Tibbits M, Pyle D, Gralow JR. Envisioning Academic Global Oncologists: Proposed Competencies for Global Oncology Training From ASCO. JCO Glob Oncol. 2024 Apr;10:e2300157. doi: 10.1200/GO.23.00157. PMID: 38603655.

Hricak H, Abdel-Wahab M,  Atun R, Lette MM, Paez D, Brink JA, Donoso-Bach L, Frija G, Hierath  M, Phil M, Holmberg O, Khong PL, Lewis JS, McGinty G, Oyen WJG, Shulman LN,  Ward ZJ, Scott, AM Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine: a Lancet Oncology Commission. Lancet 2021

Last Updated: 06 October 2025