The Best of the AACR Journals Collection: Author Profiles

John V. Heymach

Title & Affiliation:
David Bruton, Jr. Chair in Cancer Research; Professor and Chair, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and Department of Cancer Biology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.

Most-cited Articles:
STK11/LKB1 Mutations and PD-1 Inhibitor Resistance in KRAS-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma

Landscape of EGFR-Dependent and -Independent Resistance Mechanisms to Osimertinib and Continuation Therapy Beyond Progression in EGFR-Mutant NSCLC

Q: What is your primary area of study/research?
A: The primary goal of my clinical and laboratory research is to develop new strategies for treating lung cancer patients and to understand how therapeutic resistance emerges for targeted agents and immunotherapy. I am particularly interested in tackling hard-to-treat subgroups such as TKI-resistant EGFR mutant tumors, tumors with KRAS and STK11/LKB1 mutations, and small cell lung cancer.

Q: What influenced your decision to embark on a research career?
A: Since elementary school, I have always been inspired by how science could be used to improve people's lives. I also tend to be persistent, or probably stubborn, so this naturally drew me to be interested in tougher problems that were not likely to be solved anytime soon. When I was younger, I thought that might mean working for NASA, but as I learned about the complexity of biological systems and the new tools of molecular biology that would let us intervene in these systems, I realized this was a career that would likely be rewarding, useful, and continue to provide challenges in the future. I initially was interested in the molecular underpinnings of cognition and was inspired by the work of Eric Shooter, investigating neurotrophins that control neuronal survival and function, so I joined his laboratory for my PhD studies in neuroscience.

At the end of my doctorate, I considered where I thought I could make the most meaningful contributions over the next few decades. At one point, I buried myself in the library for about a week with stacks of the top scientific journals (luckily I had more free time back then) and came across new non-chemotherapeutic approaches for treating cancer, such as signal transduction inhibitors and antiangiogenic agents, particularly the groundbreaking work of Judah Folkman. I decided at that point to pursue a career in cancer research. I continued my training in his laboratory and was fortunate enough to find wonderful clinical mentors early on, such as Bruce Johnson, George Demetri, and Waun Ki Hong, who showed me how laboratory and clinical work could be effectively coupled together. I've never looked back and the research continues to thrill me both in terms of the challenges and the rewards of developing new treatments that can help patients.

Q; What excites you most about your research area?
A: As new ways to molecularly profile tumors become widely available, we are continuously finding new subgroups of patients that have distinct biology and therapeutic vulnerabilities. This makes it much less daunting to develop new treatments because we are dealing with more tractable subgroups and doing so with better drugs, like the emerging KRAS inhibitors and technologies like CAR-T cells. It also means that molecular profiling, laboratory studies, and new drug development will continue to evolve together so that we can develop more effective and personalized treatments. It looks like the breathtaking rate of progress in the last few years will only be accelerating, in the near future, which makes this a wonderful time to be involved in this type of research.

Q: What are your hobbies or passions outside of work?
A: Running, biking, and triathlons; in fact, my wife and I are currently training for the Galveston 70.3 race in April. I am also an avid Yankees fan and love to read non-fiction and autobiographies.