Lee M. Ellis, M.D., FACS, FASCO, FSSO is the Ruben Distinguished Chair in Gastroenterology Cancer Research and professor in the Departments of Surgical Oncology, and Molecular & Cellular Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). He served as interim chair, Department of Cancer Biology (2008-2012), Director of the Metastasis Research Center (2010-2012), and Director of the Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Translational Research Program (2007-2013) at MDACC. He is currently Executive Director for Translational Medicine for MDACC’s Global Programs.

Dr. Ellis’s laboratory has made several fundamental contributions to the field of cancer research. His group was the first to identify VEGF as an important mediator of CRC angiogenesis and growth. Dr. Ellis was the first to hypothesize that mutated Ras could be a resistance marker for EGFR-targeted therapies; this finding was confirmed in clinical studies. The FDA mandated wild-type Ras status for patients with CRC being considered for EGFR antibody therapy. One unique contribution to the scientific community was the publication of a Comment in Nature in 2012, co-authored with C. Glenn Begley. Ellis and Begley provided insight on the critically important subject of data reproducibility and research integrity. They reported that the vast majority of pre-clinical cancer research studies could not be reproduced. This publication (cited >2,800), along with publications from others, led to a series of changes to enhance the honest reporting of published studies. This report led to a meeting at the NIH with F. Collins, H. Varmus (NCI), and others.

He has been senior author on several manuscripts surveying investigators regarding the drivers of data manipulation, falsification, and fabrication.

This session is part of the Dr. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Leadership in Healthcare and Medicine Lecture Series.