A Novel Approach to Precision Oncology

By harnessing the power of mass spectrometry-based proteomics to identify cancer-causing proteins that undergo a specific post-translational modification called auto-palmitoylation, Tasca is uniquely positioned to utilize previously unknown binding pockets to develop novel therapies for difficult-to-treat cancers.

Tasca’s lead program, CP-383, is being developed to treat patients with tumors harboring a specific genetic profile and is expected to enter clinical trials in 2025.

Management

Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Cicmil is the Co-founder and CEO of Tasca Therapeutics, bringing over 25 years of leadership in drug discovery, translational science, and biopharmaceutical innovation. He has a proven track record in building and leading multi-disciplinary R&D teams, shaping portfolio strategy, and driving business development across early- and late-stage programs.
Throughout his career, Dr. Cicmil has held senior roles at leading organizations including Cure Ventures, Ipsen, Parabilis Med, Merck & Co., AstraZeneca, and GE Healthcare. His contributions have been instrumental in the advancement of numerous drug candidates, including major therapies such as Brilinta, Symbicort, and Keytruda.
Most recently, Dr. Cicmil was a Partner at Cure Ventures, where he built three new companies, including Tasca. Prior to that, he served as Head of Global External Innovation at Ipsen, spearheading initiatives to build a high-value pipeline through strategic partnerships. He was also Vice President of Biology at Parabilis Med, where he led scientific and operational efforts and supported company fundraising activities.
Earlier in his career at Merck & Co., Dr. Cicmil played dual roles in R&D and business development, serving as Director at Merck’s Innovation Hub and leading search & evaluation efforts in Immuno-Oncology, Immunology, and Ophthalmology. At AstraZeneca, he led teams in immunology and inflammation, delivering more than 20 clinical development candidates.
Dr. Cicmil earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Reading, where he is currently a Visiting Research Fellow, and completed postdoctoral training at Cancer Research UK. He holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from King’s College London.

VICE PRESIDENT OF CLINICAL OPERATIONS
With her extensive experience in leading clinical operations, Susan is deeply committed to improving the patient’s experience and addressing the challenges of a cancer diagnosis. With a strong background in R&D within the biopharmaceutical industry, Susan has a proven track record of supporting clinical research operations and advancing innovative programs through all development phases.
Before joining Tasca, Susan was Vice President of Clinical Operations at Cyteir Therapeutics, where she led strategic planning and execution for an early-stage oncology development program. She has also held VP roles in several companies, contributing to the research that led to the FDA/EMEA approval of a novel oncolytic virus for cancer treatment. With over 25 years in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, Susan has built and led high-performing teams, formed partnerships with CROs, regulatory bodies, and academic institutions, and successfully brought multiple therapies from early-stage development to FDA approval.
Susan holds a B.A. in Biochemistry from Smith College. Outside of work, Susan enjoys traveling, working out, watching classic TV series, and spending time with her family.

SENIOR DIRECTOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS
Susanne Saalau is the Senior Director of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Tasca Therapeutics, bringing 35 years of drug discovery experience across multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, sexual health and antivirals. Sue’s career has centered around the design and implementation of biophysical techniques and biochemical assays to support novel platforms and drive therapeutic programs forward.
Sue joined Tasca Therapeutics in February 2025 after holding scientific leadership positions at Photys Therapeutics, Frontier Medicines and LifeMine Therapeutics in the USA. Prior to her move to Boston, she worked as a director of molecular sciences at Astex Therapeutics where she contributed to the discovery of Truqap™ and Balversa™. Sue gained big pharma experience while working at Pfizer Global R&D in the Sexual Health department and GlaxoWelcome in the structural biology and molecular sciences department.
Sue graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a chemistry degree in 1985 before pursuing her graduate studies at the Pennsylvania State University under the guidance of Prof. C. Robert Matthews using biophysical techniques to study the protein folding problem.

ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Drew is a Partner and the Chief Financial Officer of Cure Ventures. He oversees the financial and operational functions at the Firm and our early-stage portfolio companies. Drew has over 20 years of experience in finance and operations, supporting both private and capital market funds.
He most recently was the Vice President of Finance at Bain Capital, helping launch the Life Sciences and Double Impact business units in 2016. Prior to that he was a Finance Manager at Absolute Return Capital, a global macro hedge fund, assisting in day-to-day oversight for all post-trade activities. He spent 7 years in public accounting at Ernst & Young within the Financial Services Office focusing on venture capital, private equity, and hedge fund clients.
Drew received a M.S.A. from the University of Virginia, McIntire School of Commerce and a B.S. in Corporate Finance and Accounting from Bentley University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER/CLINICAL LEAD
Dr. Jansen is a physician-scientist with extensive expertise across preclinical, translational, and clinical oncology research. Valerie currently serves on the Board of Directors of OnKure Therapeutics and was most recently the Chief Medical Officer at Elevation Oncology. Prior to Elevation Oncology, Valerie served as Executive Medical Director at Mersana Therapeutics and Senior Medical Advisor at Eli Lilly. Through her scientific and clinical expertise, she has worked on multiple early and late-stage clinical programs as well as pre-clinical R&D and corporate business development.
Valerie started her career in academia as a faculty member at Vanderbilt University, with a translational research program focused on understanding mechanisms of resistance to cancer targeted therapies. She also cared for patients with breast cancer in the clinic, exemplifying the bench-to-bedside model. She co-authored numerous peer-reviewed research articles and received numerous awards for her research endeavors including a Susan G. Komen Postdoctoral Fellowship, ASCO Young Investigator Award, AACR Women in Cancer Research Scholar Award, and SABCS Clinical Scholars Award.
Valerie received her M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and her Ph.D. in Molecular Sciences from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Medical Oncology through the ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway at Vanderbilt. Valerie is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology.

ACTING CHIEF DATA OFFICER, PARTNER
Kenzie’s career spans over 13 years in drug discovery working at the cutting edge of genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics to solve pressing problems in human health.
Kenzie is a partner at Cure Ventures, before which Dr. MacIsaac was Senior Director at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he developed the oncology precision medicine and bioinformatics capabilities at their Kendall Square discovery site. He played a key role in new target identification and contributed to understanding drug resistance, including Opdivo and Yervoy combinations. Prior to BMS, Kenzie led Translational Bioinformatics at Fog Pharma, overseeing their computational biology platform.
From 2014 to 2018, Dr. MacIsaac was a Group Leader at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), where he helped develop the oncology strategy for using genomic data to immunophenotype cancer and drive patient selection and translational research for oncology assets.
From 2009 to 2014, Dr. MacIsaac was a scientist at Merck Research Laboratories in the Genetics and Pharmacogenomics department, where he focused on identifying genetically validated targets in immunology and respiratory disease.
Dr. MacIsaac holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT, where he studied under Dr. Ernest Fraenkel. He also earned an M.A.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a B.Eng in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University, graduating with highest honor.

SENIOR DIRECTOR BIOLOGY
John joined Tasca Therapeutics in December 2022 as the Sr. Director of Biology. John brings 20 years of drug discovery experience at early-stage biotechnology start-ups. John has led research teams in the successful prosecution of novel modalities (pharmacological chaperones, targeted protein degradation) and targets across multiple therapeutic areas (oncology, rare disease, and CNS). John has spent most of his career in small molecule drug discovery where he held positions of increasing responsibility at Amicus Therapeutics, Arvinas, and Civetta Therapeutics. John has contributed to the discovery and development of two approved therapeutics (Galafold® and Pombiliti®+Opfolda®) and several INDs (ARV-471, AT2101, AT2220).
John received his B.S. degree from Cornell College (Mount Vernon, IA) and his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University (College Station, TX). John also spent three years at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine doing post-graduate work.

CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER
Dr. Paul Secrist is a seasoned oncology drug discovery and development expert with over 25 years of experience spanning both large pharmaceutical companies and innovative biotech startups. Before joining Tasca, he was the Chief Scientific Officer at Cyteir Therapeutics, a clinical stage drug discovery company focused on developing targeted therapies in DNA damage repair and cancer metabolism.
Before Cytier, he held leadership roles at OSI Pharmaceuticals, Aton Pharma, Merck & Co., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and Cyteir Therapeutics. At Aton Pharma, he led research on histone deacetylase inhibitors, contributing to the development of Zolinza®, the first FDA-approved targeted epigenetic drug, the company's acquisition by Merck. Later, at AstraZeneca, he led the preclinical team that discovered and advanced AZD5991, a first-in-class Mcl-1 inhibitor, into clinical trials.
Throughout his career, Dr. Secrist has managed all phases of preclinical drug discovery, from target validation and screening to IND submission and clinical biomarker strategy. Under his leadership, Dr. Secrist's discovery teams have established a reputation for their ability to successfully translate complex biological insights into viable therapeutic strategies, particularly in tackling challenging targets in cancer biology.
Dr. Secrist earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Mayo Graduate School and holds a B.S in biology from Wartburg College.

Board of Directors

Dr. Milenko Cicmil is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tasca Therapeutics, bringing over 25 years of leadership in drug discovery, translational science, and biopharmaceutical innovation. He has a proven track record in building and leading multi-disciplinary R&D teams, shaping portfolio strategy, and driving business development across early- and late-stage programs.
Throughout his career, Dr. Cicmil has held senior roles at leading organizations, including Cure Ventures, Ipsen, Parabilis Med, Merck & Co., AstraZeneca, and GE Healthcare. His contributions have been instrumental in the advancement of numerous drug candidates, including major therapies such as Brilinta, Symbicort, and Keytruda.
Most recently, Dr. Cicmil was a Partner at Cure Ventures, where he built three new companies, including Tasca. Prior to that, he served as Head of Global External Innovation at Ipsen, spearheading initiatives to build a high-value pipeline through strategic partnerships. He was also Vice President of Biology at Parabilis Med, where he led scientific and operational efforts, and supported company fundraising activities.
Earlier in his career at Merck & Co., Dr. Cicmil played dual roles in R&D and business development, serving as Director at Merck’s Innovation Hub and leading search & evaluation efforts in Immuno-Oncology, Immunology, and Ophthalmology. At AstraZeneca, he led teams in immunology and inflammation, delivering more than 20 clinical development candidates.
Dr. Cicmil earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Reading, where he is currently a Visiting Research Fellow, and completed postdoctoral training at Cancer Research UK. He holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from King’s College London.

BOARD DIRECTOR
Seth focuses on 8VC's Bio-IT investment area where he invests, builds and supports companies across areas such as therapeutics, tools, bio-infrastructures and broader applications of biology.
He joined 8VC from Amgen’s Business Development technology group, where he was responsible for search & evaluation and transactions for platform technologies across several therapeutic and functional areas. Seth was also responsible for strategic academic partnerships across all therapeutic and geographic areas.
Prior to Amgen, Seth was at ZS Associates, where he led teams engaging in market research, sales force design, and strategy. Prior to ZS Associates, Seth was Co-Founder and COO of Protomer Technologies, a Pasadena-based biologics startup.
Seth received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the California Institute of Technology and holds a B.S and M.S. in Biochemistry from Brandeis University.

BOARD OBSERVER
Dr. Xu Wu is a co-founder and scientific advisor of Tasca Therapeutics Corp. He has more than 20 years of experience in biomedical research and drug discovery in both industry and academia. He is an Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His lab pioneered in chemical biology of protein autopalmitoylation and developmental signaling pathways (Hedgehog, Wnt, and Hippo pathways), and used novel chemical tools to identify functions of protein lipidation in cell signaling and diseases. He has also rich experiences and expertise in cancer drug discovery, stem cell biology, and cell signaling. His lab discovered metabolic and lipid regulators of Hippo signaling, and revealed autopalmitoylation of TEAD protein, opening a new door to “drug the undruggable proteins”. Before joining the faculty of MGH/HMS, he was a Director of Biological Chemistry at the Genomics Institute of Novartis Research Foundation (GNF)/Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR). He supervised multiple preclinical and clinical programs and was responsible for chemical biology and medicinal chemistry discovery programs with multiple programs advanced into clinical trials. He directly discovered and developed FDA-approved Odomzo® (sonidegib).
Dr. Wu completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Scripps Research Institute, and his B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University, China. He is a recipient of many awards, including the American Cancer Society Research Scholar award and the Sam Fisher Memorial–Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) Established Investigator award.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Praveen Tipirneni, M.D. was the President and CEO of Morphic Therapeutic Inc. from its founding to its acquisition by Eli Lilly for $3.2 billion.
Previously, he was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Global Strategy at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a position in which he served from 2006 until the company’s acquisition by Merck in 2015 for approximately $9 billion.
He previously served in the clinical group working on the Cubicin NDA (skin and skin structure infections) and sNDA (Staph. Bacteremia and Endocarditis) teams since 2002. Cubicin hit peak sales of $1.2 billion.
Prior to joining Cubist, Dr. Tipirneni worked at Sun Microsystems in corporate strategy, Covad Communications in Corporate Strategy, and Deltagen in business development.
Dr. Tipirneni received a bachelor’s degree from MIT in mechanical engineering and an M.D. from McGill University. After completing his post-graduate residency in Internal Medicine at University of Illinois, Chicago, he received his M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in healthcare finance. He also served time as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

BOARD DIRECTOR
Michael Aberman, M.D. is currently a General Partner at Regeneron Ventures. Prior to joining Regeneron Ventures, Michael was the CEO and Co-founder of XenImmune Therapeutics, a seed stage biotech company.
Previously, he was the president and CEO of Quentis Therapeutics, an early-stage biotech company. Before Quentis, Michael spent over seven years at Regeneron, most recently as the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategy. In that role, he was a member of the senior management team and responsible for investor relations, corporate communications, business development, and corporate strategy. Michael joined Regeneron after six years as a biotechnology analyst at Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. Previously, he was Director of Business Development at Antigenics, Inc., an oncology-focused biotechnology company.
Michael received his B.A. from Cornell University, his M.D. from the University of Toronto, completed residency training in internal medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and received an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business.

BOARD DIRECTOR
David Fallace is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Cure Ventures Management, L.P.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cenos Therapeutics, Crosslink Therapeutics, Kenai Therapeutics, Kobuk Therapeutics, and Tasca Therapeutics, and as a board observer of Recuro Health. In addition, he has served as the President and CEO of some of Cure’s nascent biotech startups.
Most recently, he worked for Polaris Partners where he evaluated Biotechnology and Health Care Information Technologies investments. Prior to Polaris Partners he served as a portfolio manager and as an institutional investor serving on the investment committee of several large multibillion-dollar firms. While serving as a Director of Investments and leading the $10 billion Special Opportunities program at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, he spearheaded their direct venture investing, serving as a board observer at Juno Therapeutics (Acquired by Celgene) and Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI).
Dave received his B.A. from Stony Brook University and his M.B.A. and J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is a member of the New York State Bar.

BOARD OBSERVER
Emilie is a Senior Director of Business Development and Licensing at Mass General Brigham (MGB) Innovation, where she leads a team of licensing professionals and oversees licensing activities across Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham Women’s Hospital, and Spaulding. Since joining MGB Innovation in 2017, she has played a key role in advancing technology commercialization and industry partnerships.
Before MGB Innovation, Emilie built her scientific and business development expertise in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries for over 5 years. She previously served as Manager of Research Transactions in the Global Business Development and Licensing group at Sanofi.
Emilie holds a PharmD from the University of Lorraine (France), and a master’s in management for the Pharmaceutical Industry and Biotechnologies from ESCP Europe Business School (Paris).

Scientific Advisory Board and Co-Founders

CO-FOUNDER
Dr. Fisher is Co-Founder of Tasca Therapeutics and Soltégo Inc. He is an internationally known researcher, clinician and academic, who is Chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). He also serves as Director of the MGH Cutaneous Biology Research Center and Director of the Melanoma Center at MGH.
A Professor of Dermatology and of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Fisher came to the MGH from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he previously Directed the Melanoma Program. Dr. Fisher's research has focused on understanding the molecular and genetic events which underlie the formation of melanoma as well as skin pigmentation. As a clinician, he has worked to translate these understandings into advances in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human diseases related to the skin and associated disorders.
A graduate of Swarthmore College with a degree in Biology and Chemistry, Dr. Fisher is also an accomplished concert cellist and earned a degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He completed his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Nobel Laureates Gunter Blobel at Rockefeller University and Henry Kunkel. After obtaining an M.D. from Cornell Univ Medical College, Fisher carried out specialty training in Medicine, Pediatrics, and Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
He has also served as President of the Society for Melanoma Research; the largest international society dedicated to the study of melanoma and was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.

CO-FOUNDER
Dr. Xu Wu is a co-founder and scientific advisor of Tasca Therapeutics Corp. He has more than 20 years of experience in biomedical research and drug discovery in both industry and academia. He is an Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
His lab pioneered in chemical biology of protein autopalmitoylation and developmental signaling pathways (Hedgehog, Wnt, and Hippo pathways), and used novel chemical tools to identify functions of protein lipidation in cell signaling and diseases. He has also rich experiences and expertise in cancer drug discovery, stem cell biology, and cell signaling. His lab discovered metabolic and lipid regulators of Hippo signaling, and revealed autopalmitoylation of TEAD protein, opening a new door to “drug the undruggable proteins”. Before joining the faculty of MGH/HMS, he was a Director of Biological Chemistry at the Genomics Institute of Novartis Research Foundation (GNF)/Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR). He supervised multiple preclinical and clinical programs and was responsible for chemical biology and medicinal chemistry discovery programs with multiple programs advanced into clinical trials. He directly discovered and developed FDA-approved Odomzo® (sonidegib).
Dr. Wu earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Scripps Research Institute, and his B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University, China. He is a recipient of many awards, including the American Cancer Society Research Scholar award and the Sam Fisher Memorial–Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) Established Investigator award.

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. Flaherty is Director of Clinical Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. As described in the more than 300 peer reviewed primary research reports he has authored or co-authored, Dr. Flaherty and colleagues made several seminal observations that have defined the treatment of melanoma when they established the efficacy of BRAF, MEK and combined BRAF/MEK inhibition in patients with metastatic melanoma in a series of New England Journal of Medicine articles for which Dr. Flaherty was the first or senior author. He was the principal investigator of the NCI MATCH trial, the first NCI-sponsored trial assigning patients to targeted therapy independent of tumor type on the basis of DNA sequencing detection of oncogenes.
Dr. Flaherty joined the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors in 2018 (chair 2021-23), AACR Board of Directors in 2019, and was elected President of AACR in 2025. Dr. Flaherty co-founded Loxo Oncology in 2013 and Scorpion Therapeutics in 2020, serving on the board of directors through the acquisitions of both by Eli Lilly in 2019 and 2025. He co-founded X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XFOR), privately held Strata Oncology (2015), Apricity Oncology (2017), Gyges Oncology (2020), Khora Therapeutics (2024), and Monimoi Therapeutics (2025). He has served on the boards of directors for Clovis Oncology, Kinnate BioPharma, and Checkmate Pharmaceuticals (until its acquisition by Regeneron in 2022), along with Loxo Oncology, Strata Oncology and Scorpion Therapeutics.

CO-FOUNDER
Duojia (DJ) Pan is a Co-founder of Tasca Therapeutics Corp. As a faculty member at UT Southwestern Medical Center (1998-2004 and 2016-present) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2004-2016), his laboratory uses a combination of Drosophila and mouse genetics, biochemistry and cell biology to elucidate molecular mechanisms of tissue growth and homeostasis.
He is best known for pioneering discoveries on the Hippo pathway, a central mechanism that regulates tissue growth in animals ranging from insects to humans. Using the fruit fly Drosophila as a model, his laboratory systematically decoded many key components of the Hippo pathway, including its core kinase cascade, the downstream transcriptional machinery, and multiple upstream regulators. His laboratory further established a conserved role for Hippo signaling in mammalian tissue growth, regeneration and tumorigenesis, and elucidated the molecular mechanism by which the classic tumor suppressor and human disease gene NF2/Merlin controls tissue growth. These discoveries paved the way for ongoing efforts to target the Hippo pathway in cancer and regenerative medicine.
Dr. Pan is currently Bashour Distinguished Chair of Physiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received B.A. in Biochemistry from Peking University, his Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry at UCLA, and postdoctoral training in Genetics at UC Berkeley. He is a recipient of the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research (2013) and the Passano Award (2022). Prior to Tasca, he served on the scientific advisory board of Peloton Therapeutics, an oncology drug discovery and development company that was acquired by Merck & Co.

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. McMahon was awarded a Ph.D. (1985) from King’s College University of London for studies on interferon action conducted at the ICRF in London and at Stanford University. Mentored by Mike Bishop at UC San Francisco, he received postdoctoral training (1985-91) working on oncoprotein kinases such as v-SRC v-ERBB and RAF. In 1991 he established an independent research lab at the DNAX Research Institute working on RAF protein kinases. He joined the faculty of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center (1998) where he served as the Efim Guzik Distinguished Professor of Cancer Biology until 2015, when he joined the faculty of the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute. Dr. McMahon’s research focuses on melanoma and lung cancer driven by mutationally-activated RAS or RAF oncoproteins. Dr. McMahon has contributed to numerous philanthropic or government agencies having served as President of the Society for Melanoma Research and the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Research Association and Chair of the NCI Board of Scientific Counsellors. In 2017 he was awarded the American Skin Association “Leadership in Melanoma Award” and in 2022 the Society for Melanoma Research “Lifetime Achievement Award”.

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Professor Amaravadi is a physician scientist with expertise in autophagy, conducting early phase clinical trials, and clinically treating cancer patients. He was one of the first to demonstrate that autophagy is a targetable mechanism of resistance in cancer therapy using animal models. Prof. Amaravadi has translated this finding into 9 phase I/II clinical trials testing hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a possible autophagy inhibitor and anticancer agent in multiple cancers. These translational studies were the first attempt to modulate autophagy therapeutically in any disease. His laboratory published the first evidence that autophagy is elevated in melanoma patient tumors and predicts poor survival. His work on the role of autophagy in melanoma has identified ER stress associated autophagy as a resistance mechanism to BRAF inhibitors. Working with collaborators in Chemistry, his lab has designed, synthesized and characterized a novel autophagy inhibitor Lys05, which is more potent than HCQ in animal models.
Prof. Amaravadi is also a recognized melanoma medical oncologist and phase I trialist who has served as the site PI or co-investigator on melanoma clinical trials involving BRAF inhibitors, and first in human phase I clinical trials of novel cancer agents. In 2013 he was appointed co- Leader of the Cancer Therapeutics Program of the Abramson Cancer Center. In 2015 he was inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation. In 2021 he became co-Director of the Wistar/UPenn Skin SPORE.