Richard Edmund Phillips, MD, PhD
Medical Oncology, Neurology
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Abramson Cancer Center Perelman 2nd Floor West
Make an appointmentCall 215-615-5858
Penn Medicine Provider

About me

  • Division Chief, Neuro-Oncology, Neurology
  • Program Director, Neuro-Oncology Fellowship
  • Presidential Assistant Professor of Neurology
  • Assistant Professor of Neurology in Genetics

I am a neuro-oncologist who specializes in caring for people with primary brain tumors as well as neurologic complications of cancer (e.g. brain and leptomeningeal metastases, paraneoplasia, radiation necrosis). I am humbled by the opportunity to work with patients and their families during what can be a very vulnerable time. I have a special interest in the biology of brain tumors and direct a research lab where we discover new insights into these tumors such that more effective therapies can be developed.

Education and training

  • Medical School: University of London
  • Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Fellowship: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

What my patients think about me

Average Rating

70 reviews

Comments are submitted by patients and reflect their views and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect the views of Penn Medicine.

September 2025
dr. phillips leads an outstanding team of professionals who are equally attentive, thoughtful and kind
September 2025
excellent
August 2025
fantastic provider but we waited 2 hours to see him
July 2025
so caring and trustworthy

Insurance accepted

My Locations

Penn Medicine hospital privileges

  • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Pennsylvania Hospital: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Dr. Phillips is a Penn Medicine physician.

Qualifications and experience

Treatments and Conditions

My research

Eimear Lagan, Dáire Gannon, Ademar Jesus Silva, Peter Bibawi, Anthony M Doherty, Darragh Nimmo, Rachel McCole, Craig Monger, Giovani Luiz Genesi, Aurelie Vanderlinden, James A Innes, Charlotte L E Jones, Lu Yang, Bryan Chen, Guido van Mierlo, Pascal W T C Jansen, Chinmayi Pednekar, Alexander Von Kriegsheim, Kieran Wynne, Francisco J Sánchez-Rivera, Yadira M Soto-Feliciano, Angel M Carcaboso, Michiel Vermeulen, Giorgio Oliviero, Chun-Wei Chen, Richard E Phillips*, Adrian P Bracken*, Gerard L Brien*. *=co-corresponding A specific form of cPRC1 containing CBX4 is co-opted to mediate oncogenic gene repression in diffuse midline glioma , Molecular Cell , 85(11): 2025,2110-2127

Dáire Gannon, Eimear Lagan, Ademar Jesus Silva, Peter Bibawi, Anthony M. Doherty, Darragh Nimmo, Rachel McCole, Craig Monger, Giovani Genesi, Aurelie Vanderlinden Dibekeme, James A. Innes, Lu Yang, Bryan Chen, Guido van Mierlo, Pascal W.T.C Jansen, Keiran Wynne, Fran-cisco J. Sánchez-Rivera, Yadira M. Soto-Feliciano, Michiel Vermeulen, Giorgio Oliverio, Chun-Wei Chen, Richard E. Phillips, Adrian P. Bracken, Gerard L. Brien Specific cPRC1 complexes are co-opted to mediate oncogenic gene repression in diffuse midline glioma , Biorxiv: 2023

Liang R., Tomita D. Sasaki Y., Ginn J, Michino M., Huggins D., Baxt L., Kargman S., Shahid M., Kazuyoshi A., Duggan M., Stamford A., DeStanchina E., Liverton N., Meinke P., Foley M., Phillips R.E. A chemical strategy toward brain penetrant EZH2 inhibitors , ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 13(3): 2022,377–387

Phillips RE, Soshnev AA, Allis CD. Epigenomic Reprogramming as a Driver of Malignant Glioma. , Cancer Cell, 38(5): 2020,647-660

Phillips, R. E., Yang, Y., Smith, R. C., Thompson, B. M., Yamasaki, T., SotoFeliciano, Y. M., Funato, K., Liang, Y., Garcia-Bermudez, J., Wang, X., Garcia, B. A., Yamasaki, K., McDonald, J. G., Birsoy, K., Tabar, V., & Allis, C. D. Target identification reveals lanosterol synthase as a vulnerability in glioma , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(16): 2019,7957–7962

Phillips, R. E., Curran, K. J., & Khakoo, Y Management of late extraneural recurrence of medulloblastoma without high-dose chemotherapy. , Journal of Neuro-Oncology, 124(3): 2015,523–524

Awosika, O. O., Lyons, J. L., Ciarlini, P., Phillips, R. E., Alfson, E. D., Johnson, E. L., Koo, S., Marty, F., Drew, C., Zaki, S., Folkerth, R. D., & Klein, J. P. Fatal adenovirus encephalomyeloradiculitis in an umbilical cord stem cell transplant recipient. , Neurology , 80(18): 2013,1715–1717

Bartel, G., Brown, K., Phillips, R., Peng, Q., Zhou, W., Sacks, S. H., & Wong, W. Donor specific transplant tolerance is dependent on complement receptors , Transplant International , 26(1): 2013,99-108

Wood, B. R., Klein, J. P., Lyons, J. L., Milner, D. A., Phillips, R. E., Schutten, M., Folkerth, R. D., Ciarlini, P., Henrich, T. J., & Johnson, J. A. HIV-2 encephalitis: Case report and literature review , AIDS Patient Care and STDs , 26 (7): 2012,383–387

Brown, K., Phillips, R. E., & Wong, W What have we learnt from experimental renal transplantation? , Nephron Experimental Nephrology, 115(1): 2010,e9-e14