Mitesh J. Borad, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He also serves as the Program Leader for the Gene and Virus Therapy Program at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and Founding Director of the Precision Cancer Therapeutics Program at the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine. He has led the development of novel anti-cancer agents in >50 first-in-human studies. He led a multi-institutional team with his collaborators at Mayo Clinic and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), that 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 (Borad et al, PLOS Genetics 2014). Subsequent work has now led to the FDA approval of multiple FGFR inhibitors (pemigatinib, infigratinib and futibatinib). Dr. Borad and his collaborators were the first to characterize the ultra-high resolution structure of ChAdOx1, the vector for the Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the most widely administered vaccine in history. The Borad Lab has developed a number of novel oncolytic and vaccine vesiculovirus vector platforms devoid of neurotoxicity or hepatotoxicity, unlike existing vectors. His work has been funded by an FDA Orphan Drug R01, NIH DP2 New Innovator Award, DOD Translational Award, Paul Calabresi K12 award and NCI SPORE Project awards continuously since 2011. He is an internationally recognized expert for the treatment of patients with cholangiocarcinoma. He is the recipient of the Mark R. Clements Award for Vision, Innovation and Collaboration from the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation (CCF) for his pioneering efforts towards founding and serving as the Chair for the International Cholangiocarcinoma Research Network (ICRN).