NTRK Gene Fusion Testing Program Leadership

Todd Bauer, MD is an oncologist and associate director of drug development at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute at Tennessee Oncology in Nashville, Tenn. He specializes in adult malignancies, including lung, breast, and gastrointestinal, as well as serves as principle investigator on phase I clinical trials. He consults on molecular results and available clinical trials based on those results, as well as emerging technologies in the personalized medicine field.

Dr. Bauer has served as the principle investigator on numerous studies and has been involved in the development of some exciting agents. While he is proud of his involvement in those drugs, and all those that he has helped develop, his true passion is patient care. He spends much of his time practicing general medical oncology and hematology, caring for his patients on a one-on-one basis. He also enjoys helping educate colleagues about new and emerging paradigms of care in the oncology world.

Dr. Bauer holds a board certification in medical oncology. He earned his medical degree at Loyola University, his residency at Vanderbilt University, and his fellowship at The Ohio State University.

Hossein Borghaei, DO, MS is chief of Thoracic Oncology and professor of Hematology and Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa. He is the Gloria and Edmund M. Dunn Chair in Thoracic Oncology and co-director of the Immune Monitoring Facility. His specialties include endobronchial disease, lung cancer, lung metastases, mesothelioma, and thymoma. In addition to his clinical practice and participation in immunotherapy-based clinical trials, Dr. Borghaei is the principal investigator (PI) of a laboratory that develops new monoclonal antibodies and novel immune-modulating drugs, with the aim of bringing these approaches to the clinic.

Dr. Borghaei is the co-chair of the thoracic committee at Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and the chair of the LungMap trial (S1800/S1900). He is the recipient of an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award and an ASCO Career Development Award. He also is the recipient of the Robert Krigel Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence from Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Borghaei is a long-standing member of ASCO, AACR, IASLC, SITC and ECOG thoracic committee, as well as a member of the Cancer Signaling and Microenvironment research program at Fox Chase. Dr. Borghaei was named to the 2022 list of Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate and named one of Philadelphia Magazine’s Top Doctors in 2022.

Dr. Borghaei completed his fellowship at Fox Chase Cancer Center and earned his degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia and earned his master’s degree in microbiology and immunology from Temple University.

Eric Konnick, MD, MS the associate director of the Genetics and Solid Tumor Laboratory and director of Genetics Preanalytical Services at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Wash. He is also an associate professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington. His clinical duties involve selection of appropriate tissues for testing, clinical consultation for biomarker testing, as well as design, implementation, and analysis of next-generation sequencing tests for germline and somatic variants related to cancer predisposition and identification of actionable findings in cancer tissues. His research interests involve the overlap of germline and somatic testing and somatic mosaicism, clinical evaluation of emerging laboratory techniques, and cell-free DNA methods. He is also involved in teaching residents, fellows, medical students, undergraduate students, and graduate students.

Dr. Konnick holds board certifications in molecular genetic pathology and anatomic and clinical pathology. Dr. Konnick is extensively involved in multiple professional societies, with appointments as Chair of the Genomic Medicine Committee for the College of American Pathologists (CAP), Chair of the Professional Relations Committee for the Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP), AMP Board of Directors, and President of the Washington State Society of Pathologists (WSSP). Prior to his work in medicine, Dr. Konnick was a research and development scientist at Associated Regional and University Pathologists (ARUP) laboratories for seven years, where he developed numerous tests focused on clinical diagnostic virology applications and designed and implemented multiple informatics applications and interfaces.

Dr. Konnick completed his fellowship in molecular genetic pathology and residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Washington. He earned his medical degree, master’s degree in laboratory medicine and biomedical science, and bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah.

Mary Jo Luser, BSN, RN, OCN, CCRP is a senior registered nurse research coordinator for oncology clinical trials at the Aurora Research Institute at Aurora Cancer Care in Milwaukee, Wis. She is an oncology certified nurse and a certified clinical research professional, and she is the subject matter expert in precision medicine and hematology at Advocate Aurora Health.

Ms. Luser developed a process for reviewing next generation sequencing (NGS) reports for associated screening for potential clinical trials. She also developed the research coordinator position on the Oncology Molecular Tumor Board, a role responsible for reviewing all patients requiring NGS testing, and served in this role for patients with NTRK fusions on clinical trials.

Ms. Luser obtained her Oncology Certified Nursing (OCN) certification from the AJCC and Oncology Nursing Society in 2003 and her Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) in 2018. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Chamberlain University College of Nursing in 2021.