Primo “Lucky ” Lara, Jr., M.D., F.A.S.C.O.
Executive Associate Dean for Cancer Programs
Director, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Primo “Lucky” Lara, Jr., M.D., F.A.S.C.O., is the Director of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, a distinguished professor of medicine and the Executive Associate Dean for Cancer Programs at the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Throughout his career, Lara has received continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other funding agencies. He is contact principal investigator (PI) of the NCI P30 Cancer Center Support Grant, the NCI U10 NCTN grant (SWOG Cancer Research Network: one of the nation’s leading adult clinical trial cooperative groups), and the NCI K12 Paul Calabresi Clinical Oncology Training Grant. He is also a multiple principal investigator of the NCI UM1 Early Therapeutics Award (California Cancer Consortium). He has been PI on prior NCI-funded R21 and R01 grants and has successfully led or participated in numerous cancer clinical trials, ranging from phase I to III, some of which have changed or influenced standards of care. He is a strong proponent of team science and high impact collaborative research.
Lara has authored or co-authored over 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts, many in high-impact journals, most notably on novel or emerging anti-neoplastic strategies in genitourinary and lung cancers. He was named a “Giant of Cancer Care” by OncLive in 2025 in recognition of his contributions to oncologic care. He is proud to have mentored (and continues to mentor) many cancer investigators, most of whom are now pursuing highly successful careers in oncology.
He chairs the University of California Cancer Consortium, a collaborative partnership of all five NCI-designated UC cancer centers. He has served as chair or participated as a member on many NIH peer review study sections and special emphasis panels. He serves as chair or member of several external advisory boards for NCI-designated cancer centers, K12 and T32 training programs.
Lara is also a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, a designation honoring members for their extraordinary volunteer service, engagement and dedication to the society.