
E. Aubrey Thompson, PhD
If not for BCRF/PFP, we would not have the ability to carry out the rigorous studies involving multiple large clinical trial cohorts that are helping us to identify factors driving response to therapies.
Professor of Cancer Biology
Co-director, Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Initiative
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center
Jacksonville, Florida
Area of Focus: Tumor Biology
Current Research:
- Seeking new therapeutic approaches to ensure long-term, cancer-free survival in breast cancer patients.
- Genomic data from large clinical trials are analyzed to identify biomarkers of response and to implement strategies to reduce the risk of recurrence following HER2-directed treatment.
- These studies will inform more precise treatment strategies and complimentary therapeutic approaches for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.
The patient’s immune system has a lot to do with how she or he responds to treatment. Dr. Thompson is conducting studies to understand how the tumor cells interact with the immune cells, to learn how to use this information to predict therapeutic response, and to discover ways to boost the patient’s immune system to more effectively kill tumor cells.
BIO
Dr. Thomspon’s core expertise is in cancer genomics. He was a project leader on the FDA-funded MAQCIII project. His was one of three laboratories world-wide to be designated as a primary sequencing lab for this international collaborative study. A member of the breast cancer analytical working group of The Cancer Genome Atlas project, Dr. Thompson heads the breast cancer fusion transcript subgroup. For almost 40 years this work has focused on gene structure and function within the context of the malignant phenotype, with an emphasis on breast cancer. As co-director of the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Translational Genomics program, Dr. Thompson coordinates the efforts of a team of highly committed individuals with expertise in computation, biostatistics, bioinformatics, functional genomics, database management, and clinical management of breast cancer patients. This team’s work represents a broad range of collaborations, including basic mechanistic studies, clinical translational studies with a strong focus on analysis of clinical samples and practice-changing discoveries, and development of new tools for genomic analysis. Dr. Thompson’s work is highly translational in nature, and he is motivated by the concept that more effective clinical management of breast cancer requires a more detailed understanding of the biology that underlies the disease. A major objective is to define the genomic architecture of HER2-positive breast cancer, to use this genomic information to identify the biological processes that are associated with clinical outcome, and to use these biological processes to elucidate the biological and genomic basis of therapeutic response.