Dr. John Deeken serves as the President of Inova Schar Cancer and Co-Director for the Inova Schar Head and Neck Cancer Program. He joined Inova in 2013 and has more than 25 years of clinical experience in internal medicine and medical oncology.
Named as one of Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives in 2026, Dr. Deeken has significantly shaped community health and national oncology practice through the expansion of prevention, early detection, and multidisciplinary care programs as well as through clinical and translational research efforts.
Dr. Deeken specializes in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancers. His clinical research focuses on immunotherapy approaches, while his laboratory research examines the growing epidemic of HPV-associated head and neck cancers. This includes understanding tumor mutations and proteomics induced by HPV infection and how those tumors can best be treated with immunotherapy and targeted therapies. He believes that gaining a better understanding of genomic factors may explain who might be at risk for developing HPV-caused head and neck cancer. In addition to his own research, Dr. Deeken is a peer reviewer for numerous medical journals.
Dr. Deeken is the incoming chair for the Health Policy Committee for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and serves on the Inova Health Foundation Board of Directors. He previously served on the Head and Neck Cancer Scientific Committee and the Government Relations Committee for ASCO. He is a former member of the FDA’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee. Before joining Inova, he was director of the head and neck medical oncology program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University and regional director for medical oncology for MedStar Health. He currently serves as professor of medicine at the University of Virginia.
Dr. Deeken received his Doctor of Medicine from Georgetown University, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine. He completed his fellowship training in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute. Prior to attending medical school, he served for seven years as a senior legislative policy and communications staff member in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
A native of Wisconsin, Dr. Deeken is married with four children.