Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Leif Bergsagel MD, FASCO is the Grohne Professor of Therapeutics for Cancer Research, Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and Consultant in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He is co-Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Program in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, and Principal Investigator of the Mayo Clinic SPORE in Multiple Myeloma awarded by the NCI. His research interest focuses on molecular pathogenesis of multiple myeloma. In human myeloma he identified recurrent immunoglobulin gene chromosome translocations, a promiscuous array of mutations that activate the NFKB pathway, and cryptic rearrangements of MYC. He helped develop the Vk*MYC transgenic mouse model that faithfully reproduces the genetic, phenotypic, clinical and therapeutic features of human myeloma. An active investigator in many clinical trials, he has led efforts to develop targeted therapy for multiple myeloma, starting with targeting the t(4;14) chromosome translocation that he identified, and clinical trials of immunotherapy using IAP antagonists to activate the innate immune system. Currently he is conducting co-clinical studies in patients and mice to optimize the efficacy of T-cell immunotherapy.
Dr. Bergsagel has received numerous honors and awards during his training and career. He has been awarded the 2009 Robert A. Kyle Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator by Mayo Clinic Arizona, the 2010 Daniel E. Bergsagel Visiting Professor by the Ontario Cancer Institute, an award in honor of his father, also a myeloma researcher, the 2012 David A. Galton Lecturer, Hammersmith Hospital, the 2013 Bertha A. Bouroncle Lectureship, Ohio State University Medical Center, and the 2017 McCardle Lectureship, University of Wisconsin.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
11:30 AM – 11:45 AM EEST