SUMMARY
Mitesh J. Borad, M.D., a physician-scientist at Mayo Clinic, has been extensively involved in developing novel cancer therapeutic platforms that leverage genomic medicine and gene/virus therapies, with a focus on tumors of the liver, bile ducts and pancreas. He has served as program leader for the Gene and Virus Therapy Program at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and founding director of the Precision Cancer Therapeutics Program at Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine.
Dr. Borad has led the clinical development of novel anti-cancer agents in more than 50 first-in-human studies. He led a multi-institutional team with his collaborators at Mayo Clinic and the Translational Genomics Research Institute. The team was one of the first to apply whole genome sequencing in a clinical setting to the care of patients with advanced cancers. This work also led to the discovery of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGFR2) fusions in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, with the first demonstration of anti-tumor activity with FGFR inhibitors in this patient population. Subsequent work led to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of pemigatinib, infigratinib and futibatinib, all FGFR inhibitors.
Dr. Borad and his collaborators were the first to characterize the ultra-high-resolution structure of ChAdOx1, the vector for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. This is the most widely administered vaccine in history.
The Borad Lab has developed several novel oncolytic, vaccine and gene therapy vesiculovirus vector platforms devoid of neurotoxicity or hepatotoxicity that are unlike existing vectors. Since 2011, Dr. Borad's work has been continuously funded by these awards:
- FDA Orphan Drug R01.
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) DP2 New Innovator Award.
- Department of Defense Translational Award.
- Paul Calabresi K12 Award.
- National Cancer Institute SPORE Project Award.
Dr. Borad is an internationally recognized expert for treating patients with cholangiocarcinoma. He received the Mark R. Clements Award for Vision, Innovation and Collaboration from the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation for his pioneering efforts to found the International Cholangiocarcinoma Research Network, which he also chaired. He is the proud mentor of a large cadre of trainees at all levels, particularly those from underrepresented groups. These trainees have gone on to successful careers in academia, government and the biopharmaceutical industry.
Focus areas
- Engineering of novel gene and virus therapy platforms. The Borad Lab is developing novel vesiculovirus-based platforms for gene therapy and oncolytic virotherapy applications. The focus is on repeat dosing, harnessing preexisting host immunity and molecular tagging to enable surface-directed therapeutic synergies.
- Epigenomic therapeutics. Dr. Borad's team is leveraging epigenomic dependencies to enable combinatorial epigenomic therapeutic targeting in cholangiocarcinoma. His team also has been characterizing the role of superenhancers in cholangiocarcinoma oncogenesis.
- Genomic medicine-driven target discovery. Dr. Borad and his team are using computational biology approaches for biomarker and target discovery in cancers of the bile duct, liver and pancreas from multi-omic datasets, with an ultimate goal of achieving comprehensive and individualized N=1 therapies.
- First-in-human studies. Dr. Borad's clinical translation focus of novel anti-cancer agents is in early-phase clinical studies, with an emphasis on first-in-human studies.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Borad is committed to rapidly advancing discoveries from bench to bedside. He continues these efforts using a highly collaborative team science approach. Given the unmet needs, his efforts mainly focus on patients with cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Professional highlights
- Editor, PLoS One, 2018-present.
- Elected member, The American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2024.
- Member, Physical Delivery, Therapeutics and Vector Development Committee, American Society of Gene + Cell Therapy, 2021-2024.
- Co-founder and chair, International Cholangiocarcinoma Research Network, 2020-2023.
- Co-leader, Gene and Virus Therapy Program, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2020-2023.
- Founding director, Precision Cancer Therapeutics Program, Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, 2020-2023.
- Member, Hepatobiliary Cancers Panel, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 2020-2023.
- Mark R. Clements Award for Vision, Innovation and Collaboration, Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, 2022.
- Charter member, NIH Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology Study Section, 2015-2021.
- NIH New Innovator Award, 2014.