Ashkan Emadi, MD, PhD, is the inaugural chair of the Department of Medical Oncology at the WVU School of Medicine. He’s also the Alexander Bland Osborn Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Medical Oncology. He serves as physician-in-chief for Medical Oncology and associate center director for Translational Research at the WVU Cancer Institute.
Dr. Emadi is dedicated to building an academic and clinical department and team that provides state-of-the-art cancer care, inclusive of investigative programs, to the diverse population served by the WVU Cancer Institute. He is also focused on improving access for underserved communities.
With a PhD in organic chemistry, Dr. Emadi has pioneered methodologies for synthesizing compounds with potent anti-HIV and anti-cancer activities. In his lab, Dr. Emadi directs cutting-edge research combining an intimate knowledge of the cellular pathways he is targeting with a complete familiarity and deep commitment to the patients he is treating. Dr. Emadi is a world-renowned scientist in targeting glutamine metabolism and dependency in acute myeloid leukemia, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, mesothelioma, and brain tumors, including both isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutant astrocytoma and IDH wild type glioblastoma. He has designed and conducted several novel state-of-the-art clinical trials focusing on amino acid metabolism in cancer.
Nationally and internationally, Dr. Emadi is among a very select group of oncology physician-scientists who possesses comprehensive knowledge and hands-on experience in all stages of cancer drug discovery, from chemical synthesis and in vitro and in vivo studies to all phases of clinical trials, and drug approval by regulatory agencies.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Emadi has been the author, co-author, or editor of nearly 200 research articles, presentations in national and international scientific meetings, book chapters, and three novel fully illustrated books, including a unique Cancer Pharmacology textbook. His work has been published in top tier journals, such as New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, Leukemia, American Journal of Hematology, British Journal of Haematology, and JAMA.
Dr. Emadi is an exceptional teacher. He has been a great mentor for physicians and basic scientists at all stages of training and has been recognized consistently throughout his career. Training the next generation of scientists is one of his life missions. To date, he has spent several hundred hours on personalized direct mentoring of nearly 40 college students, interns, PhD and medical students, internal medicine residents, and Hematology/Oncology fellows and junior faculty. He is proud that the vast majority of his mentees are now thriving academic investigators, teachers, and clinician-scientists all around the United States.
