Evanthia Galanis MD

Evanthia Galanis, M.D., is the Sandra J. Schulze Professor of Novel Therapeutics, professor of oncology, and an internationally recognized expert in the fields of oncolytic virotherapy and brain tumor research.

At Mayo Clinic, Dr. Galanis has served as chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine from 2009 to 2019 and leader of the Gene and Virus Therapy Program of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center from 2012 to 2020. In 2019, she was named executive dean for Development. Dr. Galanis is a member of the Mayo Clinic Research Committee, Medical-Industry Relations Committee, Named Professorship Committee, International Executive Operations Team, and Mayo Clinic Proceedings Business Advisory Board. She also has served as the Industry Partnership arm leader in the Mayo Extramural Research Partnership Executive Office.

Nationally, Dr. Galanis is chair of the Neuro-Oncology Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Glioblastoma working group and the U.S. lead for Rare Brain Tumors as part of the International Rare Cancer Initiative. She has received numerous awards and honors, and in 2011 was elected a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation. Dr. Galanis actively serves in study sections for the NIH, Department of Defense, and the European Commission.

The focus of Dr. Galanis’ laboratory is to develop and optimize novel virotherapy approaches for cancer treatment. A significant impetus for this research is the translation of laboratory advances into clinical trials of novel therapeutics.

Dr. Galanis has led multiple clinical trials of virotherapy for different solid tumors. She spearheaded the clinical translation of measles derivatives and their first human testing in patients with ovarian cancer and brain tumors, as well as the first human use of live cell carriers for oncolytic virus delivery. She also has led multiple national trials of targeted and anti-angiogenesis agents to treat glioblastoma.