Expert Directory

Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP

Director, Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson
Mays Family Foundation Distinguished University Presidential Chair
San Antonio, TX

Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP, began his tenure as director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)–designated UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center and May’s Family Foundation Distinguished University Professor and Chair in August 2017. He recently concluded his term as chair of the Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and deputy director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center.

Dr Mesa is committed to improving the therapeutic options and quality of life for patients with cancer, and he has focused his efforts on the chronic leukemias known as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), including polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and myelofibrosis.

Dr Mesa has been principal investigator (PI) or co-PI of more than 70 clinical trials for patients with MPN or other myeloid disorders. He played a lead role in the US Food and Drug Administration approval of ruxolitinib for multiple indications and leads the development programs for pacritinib, momelotinib, ropegylated interferon, and fedratinib. He has been a funded investigator from the NCI throughout his career and currently serves as co-PI of the NCI Program Project Grant–funded Myeloproliferative Disorders Research Consortium, where he co-leads the clinical trial consortium. He was the inaugural chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines Panel for MPN, which launched the first guidelines for myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and essential thrombocythemia. Dr Mesa also served as chair of the Arizona Cancer Coalition, which oversees the Arizona Cancer Control Plan and works with the Arizona Department of Health Services in advocating for cancer in Arizona. He plays a range of leadership roles with the American Society of Hematology, is a clinical advisor to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and is chair of the Standing Science and Education Committee for the International Society of Hematology.

Dr Mesa has been the recipient of several awards throughout his career as an educator, an investigator, and a clinician, such as the 2013 Mayo Clinic Investigator of the Year Award, the 2015 CancerCare Physician of the Year, and the 2013 patient-awarded MPN Hero Award. He has more than 800 lifetime medical publications, including editing several textbooks on MPNs, and more than 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He also serves as the editor-in-chief of Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports and as an editorial board member for several journals, including Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Journal of the National Cancer Center Network, Advances in Hematology, the European Medical Journal Hematology, the Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion, Revista de Hematología, and Revista Hematologica Mexicana. He is a frequently invited speaker on topics related to cancer, MPN, and cancer survivorship, with more than 600 such lectures and visiting professorships, nationally and internationally.