Dr Paul Mischel

Paul Mischel, MD is a physician scientist trained in pathology and cancer biology. His lab has made a series of seminal discoveries that have identified a central role for ecDNA (extrachromosomal DNA) in cancer development, progression, accelerated tumor evolution and drug resistance. These findings have provided a new understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of oncogene amplification and the spatial organization of altered tumor genomes, launching a new area of cancer research that links circular architecture with tumor pathogenesis.

Paul’s lab has also uncovered actionable metabolic co-dependencies that are downstream consequences of oncogene amplification, including in the highly lethal brain cancer glioblastoma, that are poised for therapeutic exploitation. These include a central role for altered biochemical mechanisms that regulate oncogene copy number and function. These discoveries have resulted in new understandings of some of the fundamental processes by which oncogene amplification drives cancer progression and drug resistance in the changing environments within which tumors develop.

Paul is an Elected Fellow and Past-President of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He is also an Elected Fellow of the American Association of Physicians, and The American Association for the Advancement of Science.