Mark Rosenberg MD

Dr. Mark Rosenberg received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1988. Dr. Rosenberg completed his residency in emergency medicine where he was awarded “Resident and Teacher of the Year.” Dr. Rosenberg has been director/assistant director of several emergency departments, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center. While staying active in academic emergency medicine, Dr. Rosenberg began contemplating methods to improve healthcare, such as how to improve treatment of the cause of medical disorders, rather than just treating the symptoms. In the late 1990s, Dr. Rosenberg reviewed the literature regarding obesity drugs and subsequently developed a novel drug for the treatment of obesity, for which he filed a patent. Dr. Rosenberg’s drug development for obesity was sidetracked when his mother presented to his emergency department with chest pain. Dr. Rosenberg diagnosed his mother with non-small cell lung cancer, that had metastasized to the liver, spleen, and bilateral adrenal glands. Dr. Rosenberg consulted with oncologists at preeminent cancer centers, where he learned the following: for most solid cancers (as opposed to leukemias and lymphomas), we have extended survival by approximately 2 months over the past 20 years. His career path swiftly and abruptly changed course, toward the study of cancer. He began studying tumor metabolism and then became the program director for the first Integrative Cancer Fellowship in the U.S. He began evaluating the literature regarding drugs that target cancer stem cells (CSC). CSCs, which are resistant to most cancer treatments (including chemotherapy), is the primary reason for cancer treatment failure. The literature revealed that salinomycin, an antibiotic that has been used in chicken and pig feed for over 30 years, exquisitely targets and kills CSC. Although exciting, there are two problems with this drug: Neurotoxicity, The patent expired long ago, so there is no financial incentive to sponsor a clinical trial. He took 2 patients with end-stage small cell lung cancer and treated them outside of the U.S. with salinomycin, achieving complete remission in both cases. As of the time this article was written, the first patient has been in remission for 8.5 years and the second for 7.5 years. He and his team started a pharmaceutical company and partnered with a spinout from Harvard, with the goal being to reduce the toxicity of salinomycin while improving its selectivity for cancer cells, thereby sparing normal cells. The animal studies looked extremely promising, so Dr. Rosenberg merged his company with another pharmaceutical company, with the goal being to initiate a human trial with the first cancer stem cell-targeting drug, to be initiated at the end of 2022. Finally, Dr. Rosenberg recently filed a provisional patent on a device to eliminate circulating tumor clusters from the bloodstream. If successful, this device may mitigate and potentially halt the seeding of tumor cells, thereby terminating the metastatic process. The first experiment has just begun at the Univ. Michigan. His career path has clearly taken an unusual turn, but he has dedicated his life to making a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer.