Pierre Fournel, MD, completed the medical school at the University of Saint-Etienne and a residency in Pneumology at the University Hospital of Lyon in France.

Very early, he was interested in thoracic cancers and in 1985 he founded with some colleagues the Lyon and Saint-Etienne Thoracic Oncology  group (GLOT) to carry out clinical trials in lung cancers. Later, he was president of the French Lung Cancer Group (GFPC) and member of the French Lung Cancer Intergroup (IFCT). He is an ASCO and IASLC member. Prof Fournel is the author of more than 130 academic articles, particularly in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer.

Currently he is professor at the University of Saint-Etienne and chair of the department of Medical Oncology at  the Institute Cancer De La Loire Lucien Neuwirth Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, France. He is referent for treatment of Thoracic and Head and Neck cancers.