Lee
Lee M. Ellis, MD, FACS, FASCO
Lee M. Ellis, MD, FACS, FASCO, is a clinical research professor in the Institute of Human Health and Disease Intervention, Division of Research, at Florida Atlantic University. A translational investigator primarily focused on GI cancers, Dr. Ellis is passionate about using his more than 30 years’ experience in cancer research to help the next generation of cancer care providers and investigators.
While working at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center as the Ruben Distinguished Chair in Gastroenterology Cancer Research and as a Professor in the Departments of Surgical Oncology and Molecular & Cellular Oncology, 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 & 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 & Begley provided insight on the critically important subject of data reproducibility & 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 & to a meeting at the NIH with F. Collins, H. Varmus (NCI) & others. He has been senior author on several manuscripts surveying investigators regarding the drivers of data manipulation, falsification & fabrication.
Dr. Ellis serves in leadership roles in the cancer community. He was chair of the ASCO Cancer Research & Nominating Committees & is a Fellow of ASCO (2014). He recently served on the ASCO Board of Directors (2018-2022). He is currently an Officer of ESMO & has served on the program committee for ESMO TAT for 4+ years. He was co-program director of the AACR annual meetings in 2009 & 2011 & has served as course co-director of the Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshops in the US & Europe. Dr. Ellis served on a NAS committee that developed recommendations to decrease the regulatory burden of research (2014-2016). Dr. Ellis serves as Vice Chair of SWOG, Translational Medicine. He currently serves on several data safety monitoring committees (including ECOG-ACRIN) & the Scientific Audit Committee of the EORTC (Belgium) & is a Deputy Editor for JAMA Oncology. Dr. Ellis is a member of the inaugural AACR Trust in Science Task Force, and he also serves on ASCO’s ELEVATE GENETICS Acceptable Thresholds Committee.
Dr. Ellis has recently been honored by several awards, including the 2021 Walter Reed Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Virginia Medical Alumni Association & the 2022 AACR Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education & Training in Cancer Research.
Lee M. Ellis, MD, FACS, FASCO
- Florida Atlantic University
- Clinical Research Professor
- Institute of Human Health and Disease Intervention, Division of Research
Lee M. Ellis, MD, FACS, FASCO, is a clinical research professor in the Institute of Human Health and Disease Intervention, Division of Research, at Florida Atlantic University. A translational investigator primarily focused on GI cancers, Dr. Ellis is passionate about using his more than 30 years’ experience in cancer research to help the next generation of cancer care providers and investigators.
While working at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center as the Ruben Distinguished Chair in Gastroenterology Cancer Research and as a Professor in the Departments of Surgical Oncology and Molecular & Cellular Oncology,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 & 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 & Begley provided insight on the critically important subject of data reproducibility & 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 & to a meeting at the NIH with F. Collins, H. Varmus (NCI) & others. He has been senior author on several manuscripts surveying investigators regarding the drivers of data manipulation, falsification & fabrication.
Dr. Ellis serves in leadership roles in the cancer community. He was chair of the ASCO Cancer Research & Nominating Committees & is a Fellow of ASCO (2014). He recently served on the ASCO Board of Directors (2018-2022). He is currently an Officer of ESMO & has served on the program committee for ESMO TAT for 4+ years. He was co-program director of the AACR annual meetings in 2009 & 2011 & has served as course co-director of the Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshops in the US & Europe. Dr. Ellis served on a NAS committee that developed recommendations to decrease the regulatory burden of research (2014-2016). Dr. Ellis serves as Vice Chair of SWOG, Translational Medicine. He currently serves on several data safety monitoring committees (including ECOG-ACRIN) & the Scientific Audit Committee of the EORTC (Belgium) & is a Deputy Editor for JAMA Oncology. Dr. Ellis is a member of the inaugural AACR Trust in Science Task Force, and he also serves on ASCO’s ELEVATE GENETICS Acceptable Thresholds Committee.
Dr. Ellis has recently been honored by several awards, including the 2021 Walter Reed Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Virginia Medical Alumni Association & the 2022 AACR Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education & Training in Cancer Research.