Dr Ruben A Mesa leads the Atrium Health’s mission and programmes against cancer as President of the Atrium Health Levine Cancer, Executive Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Vice Dean for cancer programmes and Professor of Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Senior Vice President for Atrium Health. In these roles, Dr Mesa oversees all efforts related to cancer practice, research and education across the Atrium Health system. Dr Mesa previously was the Executive Director of the NCI-designated Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson from 2017–2023, where he developed and grew the cancer service line, co-led the development and construction of a new cancer-focused hospital, grew the cancer faculty, peer reviewed-funded research and successfully renewed the NCI designation in 2020. Earlier in his career, Dr Mesa practiced haematology at the Mayo Clinic (Minnesota from 2002–2009 and Arizona from 2009–2017), where he was Chair of Haematology & Medical Oncology and Deputy Director of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr Mesa is an international expert in haematologic cancers, who has dedicated his life’s work to research and drug development for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a group of chronic leukaemias that can cause difficult symptoms, bone marrow problems, acute leukaemia and premature death. He has been involved in MPN research for more than 20 years. Dr Mesa’s research focuses on MPN biology, novel therapeutics and over 100 phase I-III clinical trials, symptom assessment tools (led development of the globally utilised MPN Symptom Assessment Form and Myelofibrosis Symptom Assessment Form) and non-pharmacological interventions to alleviate MPN symptoms. He has over 800 lifetime medical publications, with more than 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 15 book chapters and two edited books. He is a frequently invited speaker on MPNs, with over 600 such lectures and visiting professorships, nationally and internationally. Dr Mesa has led or co-led the development of six drugs that have been FDA approved for MPNs, including ruxolitinib (myelofibrosis in 2011 and polycythemia vera in 2014), fedratinib (myelofibrosis in 2019), ropegylated interferon a2b (polycythemia vera, 2021), avapritinib (systemic mastocytosis in 2021), pacritinib (myelofibrosis in 2022) and momelotinib (pending approval; anticipated 2023). Dr Mesa was the inaugural Panel Chair of the National
Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)’s guideline panel for the first US guidelines for MPNS (myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia).

Dr Mesa is an NCI-funded investigator on several projects in MPNs and has been appointed to the NCI Clinical Trial Advisory Committee. He plays a range of leadership roles with the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), is currently elected to the Board of the American Association of Cancer Institutes (AACI) and is an Executive Officer of the board for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society. Dr Mesa has won many awards for his research at the the Mayo Clinic, from patient and MPN organisations.

In addition to Dr Mesa’s extensive MPN research and clinical practice, he is passionate about advancing cancer health equity and increasing minority patients’ participation in cancer clinical trials. He helped implement a mandate that each new trial at the Mays Cancer Center had a Minority Accrual Plan. He is involved in numerous national initiatives to increase clinical trial diversity, including being a member of the Genentech Health Disparities Task Force, Bristol Myers Squibb Health Disparities Task Force and the Janssen Health Disparities Task Force. In March 2022, he testified on the importance of clinical trial diversity before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Dr Mesa also co-led the Mays Cancer Center’s biennial Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference, held in San Antonio.