Blase Polite, MD

2021 Senior Faculty Scholars

Dr. Polite is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago the Deputy Section Chief for Strategy and Network Development, Executive Medical Director for Cancer Accountable Care and a GI oncologist specializing in the treatment of patients with colorectal anal pancreatic and neuroendocrine cancers. He is a past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), is Past-Chair of the ASCO Health Disparities Committee and a two-time chair of the ASCO Government Relations Committee. He served 5 years on the American Cancer Society Cancer Control and Prevention: Health Policy and Health Services (CPHPS) Review Committee including the role of vice-chair and Chair of that committee. He is a graduate of ASCO’s Leadership Development Program, a recipient of an ASCO Career Development Award, and was named a Fellow of the Society in 2018. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Oncology Practice and has received awards recognizing his clinical and teaching efforts and was recently chosen as a Bucksbaum Institute Senior Faculty Scholar. He is actively involved at the federal and local level in developing alternative payment models for cancer care. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. He currently is the CO-PI of a 5-year NCI Moonshot grant, Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening and Follow-up through Implementation Science in Chicago (ACCSIS-Chicago) aimed at improving colorectal screening among Federally Qualified Health Centers in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Dr. Polite earned his Bachelor and Master’s degree in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago, and went on to spend 4 years working on Health Care and Medicare reform policy in Washington DC with the Department of Health and Human Services and with the Office of Senator Bill Bradley. He received his MD from Indiana University and then did his training in Internal Medicine and Medical oncology at the University of Chicago.