Ajay Goel

The overarching focus of my research is on molecular diagnostics, therapeutics, and translational aspects of cancer, with a specific focus on gastrointestinal cancers. After my faculty appointment at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, in 2001, I began to develop my research interests around gaining a better understanding of the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of cancer pathogenesis. After joining Baylor Scott & White Research Institute (BSWRI), Dallas, TX, in 2003, I established my own independent research program on cancer epigenetics, prevention, and translational oncology. In 2019, I relocated my research team to the Beckman Research Institute (BRI) at City of Hope, Duarte, CA, where I serve as a Professor and the founding Chair of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics, as well as Associate Director of Basic Science of the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center (COHCCC). Over more than two decades, I have successfully developed and led several multi-national research collaborations with various nationally and internationally recognized scientists within the U.S. (e.g., from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, UCSD, Mayo Clinic, University of Illinois at Chicago, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and MD Anderson Cancer Center), as well as from Japan, China, South Korea, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Australia, and Argentina. This has resulted in the publication of >375 peer-reviewed research articles in leading oncology and gastroenterology-related international journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Reviews, Nature Communications, Lancet Oncology, JAMA Network Open, Gastroenterology, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, JCO Precision Oncology, and Journal of the National Cancer Institute, with a corresponding h-index of 96 and an i10-index of 278. In addition, I have more than 45 patents granted or applications in review, and numerous domestic and international invited professorships and invited presentations. During the past 20+ years, my research efforts have been continuously supported by intramural and extramural funding from the National Cancer Institute, NIH, and private foundations and agencies, as an independent PI or co-investigator. The success of our research endeavors in developing non-invasive, liquid biopsy-based diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers for various gastrointestinal cancers, specifically colorectal and pancreatic cancers, has been largely due to my ability to foster more than 100 collaborations with key laboratories worldwide, as well as in establishing a unique, one-of-a-kind biorepository with thousands of clinically annotated tissue and blood plasma and serum specimens. Moreover, our track record of finishing projects, publishing extensively in the leading cancer and gastroenterology-related journals, and the availability of comprehensive laboratory resources to us at our institution all contribute to our success. Taken together, my past success, academic accomplishments, and scientific productivity in the areas of gastrointestinal cancers, particularly colorectal cancer, cancer genomics, and epigenomics uniquely position me to serve as the PI of this R01 proposal aimed to develop clinically relevant biomarkers for colorectal cancer.