speaker
🇸🇬 PROFESSOR DOCTOR GOH BOON CHER
MBBS (S’pore), MRCP (UK), MMed (Int Med), FAMS, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edin)
Group Chief Physician Leadership and Organisation Development Officer at the National University Health System &
Deputy Director (Research) at the National University Cancer Institute (NUS)
Dr. Goh completed his undergraduate medical education at the National University of Singapore and his fellowship in medical oncology at the Department of Hematology-Oncology, NUH. He also earned a National Medical Research Council fellowship in clinical pharmacology and phase I clinical trials at the University of Chicago.
He is a leading clinician-scientist in clinical pharmacology and cancer drug development, actively involved in numerous institutional and national research portfolios. Dr. Goh has also served multiple terms as Chairman of the Domain Specific Research Board, emphasizing ethical research principles. Upon returning from Chicago, he significantly contributed to developing the clinical trial research infrastructure at NCIS, one of Singapore’s largest clinical research groups, and chaired the Cancer Therapeutics Research Group in the Asia Pacific. As the principal investigator of the Experimental Therapeutics group at the Cancer Science Institute, Singapore, his focus is on evaluating novel cancer treatments. As a clinician, he is well established in the fields of head and neck/lung cancer.
Beyond cancer therapeutics, he is also widely published in pharmacogenetics, exploring how human genetics affect drug response. As an international key opinion leader, he has served on advisory boards for several pharmaceutical companies advising on drug development of very novel drugs, and on editorial boards for prominent journals like the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Annals of Oncology.
Currently, Dr Goh holds the position of Group Chief Physician Leadership and Organisation Development Officer at the National University Health System. and serves as Deputy Director (Research) at the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore.
- Senior Consultant, Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS)
- Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS)
- Professor, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS)
- Senior Consultant, Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS)
- Deputy Director (Research), National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS)
- Deputy Director, Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, (NUS)
- Member of American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
- Member of European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
- Member of Royal College of Pathologists United Kingdom (UK)
- Member of Royal College of Physicians, (UK)
- Member of Singapore Society of Haematology
- Chairman of the Domain Specific Research Board
- Principal Investigator of the Experimental Therapeutics Group at the Cancer Science Institute, Singapore
- The National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Singapore Translational Research Investigator Award (2021)
- Pharmacological Society (Singapore) Excellence Award in Pharmacology Research (2019)
- National Outstanding Clinician Scientist Award (NMRC-National Medical Excellence Award) (2019)
- Translational Research Innovator Award (NUHS-Mochtar Riady Pinnacle Awards) (2015)
- The National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Senior Clinician Scientist Award (2015)
- NMRC Senior Clinical Scientist Award (National Medical Research Council) (2010 – 2015)
research interest
Cancers of the upper aerodigestive tracts are among the most frequent cancers, and understanding these diseases (of the head, neck and lungs) has been the focus of Professor Goh’s research team over the past decade. Through a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort comprising genomics, proteomics and high throughput technologies, his group aims to discover novel cancer biomarkers that could stratify high-risk tumours for therapeutic intervention.
1) Plasma-based analysis for biomarker discovery.
Early cancer intervention is often challenging due to a lack of diagnostic biomarkers for early cancer detection. By applying quantitative proteomics and next-generation sequencing on liquid biopsies collected from multicentre trial, the group aims to delineate diagnostic marker signatures for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC). Current work on plasma exosomes has identified blood-based signature panel for early detection of NSCLC.
2) Functional genomics in the understanding of cancer biology.
Comprehensive next-generation sequencing technologies have allowed the group to identify genetic polymorphisms and rare somatic mutations among the NSCLC and head and neck cancers (HNC). Gene variants that affect drug disposition, protein structure and receptor interaction may have significant effects to account for ethnic or geographic differences in drug action. The team has identified recurring mutations of the c-MET receptor and p53 protein that are gain-of-function and responsible for malignant growth. Molecular dissection of tumour biology of these variants will be pursued to yield therapeutic targets for clinical development and drug repurposing.
3) Target identification for precision oncology.
The team is interested in exploring novel targets within cancer’s hallmarks to design therapeutic strategies. Some of the recent work includes targeting cancer metabolism through the development of inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and STAT3 signalling, cell cycle inhibition using CDK4/6 blockers, antiangiogenic therapy coupled with chemotherapy, dendritic cell-based immunotherapy, and re-differentiation in radio-refractory cancers. These studies aim to bridge the gap between laboratory and clinic through trenchant analysis of tumour resistance, immune tolerance and metabolic rewiring.
- Hellmann MD, Kim TW, Lee CB, Goh BC , Miller WH, Oh DY, Jamal R, Chee CE, Chow LQM, Gainor JF, Desai J, Solomon BJ, Das Thakur M, Pitcher B, Foster P, Hernandez G, Wongchenko MJ, Cha E, Bang YJ, Siu LL, Bendell J. Phase Ib study of atezolizumab combined with cobimetinib in patients with solid tumors. Ann Oncol. 2019 30(7):1134-1142
- Abaza YM, Kadia TM, Jabbour EJ, Konopleva MY, Borthakur G, Ferrajoli A, Estrov Z, Wierda WG, Alfonso A, Chong TH, Chuah C, Koh LP, Goh BC , Chang JE, Durkes DE, Foudray MC, Kantarjian HM, Dong XQ, Garcia-Manero G. Phase 1 dose escalation multicenter trial of pracinostat alone and in combination with azacitidine in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. Cancer. 2017;123(24):4851.
- Tai WM, Yong WP, Lim C, Low LS, Tham CK, Koh TS, Ng QS, Wang WW, Wang LZ, Hartono S, Thng CH, Huynh H, Lim KT, Toh HC, Goh BC , Choo SP. A phase Ib study of selumetinib (AZD6244, ARRY-142886) in combination with sorafenib in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ann Oncol 2016;27(12):2210.
- Wong AL, Sundar R, Wang TT, Ng TC, Zhang B, Tan SH, Soh TI, Pang AS, Tan CS, Ow SG, Wang L, Mogro J, Ho J, Jeyasekharan AD, Huang YQ, Thng CH, Chan CW, Hartman M, Iau P, Buhari SA, Goh BC , Lee SC. Phase Ib/II randomized, open-label study of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide with or without low-dose, short-course sunitinib in the pre-operative treatment of breast cancer. Oncotarget 2016 Aug
- A. L. Wong, R. A. Soo, D. S. Tan, S. C. Lee, J. S. Lim, P. C. Marban, L. R. Kong, Y. J. Lee, L. Z. Wang, W. L. Thuya, R. Soong, M. Q. Yee, T. M. Chin, M. T. Cordero, B. R. Asuncion, B. Pang, S. Pervaiz, JL Hirpara, A. Sinha, W. W. Xu, M. Yuasa, T. Tsunoda, M. Motoyama, T. Yamauchi and B. C. Goh . Phase I and biomarker study of a novel inhibitor of STAT3 phophorylation, OPB-51602 in patients with refractory solid cancers. Ann Oncol 2015;26(5):998-1005.
- Tsao A, Hui EP, Juergens R, Marur S, Huat TE, Cher GB , Hong RL, Hong WK, Chan AT. Phase II study of TAS-106 in patients with platinum-failure recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer. Cancer Med. 2013 Jun;2(3):351-9.
- Lim WT, Ng QS, Percy I, Leong SS, Singh O, Chowbay B, Gao F, Thng CH, Goh BC , Tan DS, Koh TS, Toh CK, Tan EH. Phase II Study of Pazopanib in Asian Patients with Recurrent/Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 2011;17(16):5481-9.
- Chan D, Yeo WL, Tiemsim Cordero M, Wong CI, Chuah B, SooR, Tan SH, Lim SE, Goh BC , Lee SC. Phase II study of gemcitabine and carboplatin in metastatic breast cancers with prior exposure to anthracyclines and taxanes. Invest New Drugs 2010;28(6):859-62.
- Chiung-Ing Wong, Tong-San Koh, Ross Soo, Septian Hartono, Choon-Hua Thng, Evelyn McKeegan, Wei-Peng Yong, Chien-Shing Chen, Soo-Chin Lee, John Wong, Robert Lim, Norita Sukri, Siew-Eng Lim, Ai-Bee Ong, Joyce Steinberg, Neeraj Gupta, Rajendra Pradhan, Rod Humerickhouse, Boon-Cher Goh . Phase I and biomarker study of ABT-869, a multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in patients with refractory solid malignancies. J Clin Oncol 2009;27(28):4718-4726.
- Yong WP, Wang LZ, Tham LS, Wong CI, Lee SC, Soo R, Sukri N, Lee HS, Goh BC . A phase I study of docetaxel with ketoconazole modulation in patients with advanced cancers. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2007 Oct 2 (epub)