Rafael Fonseca MD
Chief Innovation Officer, Mayo Clinic; Getz Family Professor of Cancer, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Phoenix, ArizonaRafael Fonseca, MD, is the Getz Family Professor of Cancer, Professor of Medicine, Chief Innovation Officer, and a consultant in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He is a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors and Board of Trustees. He earned his MD at Universidad Anahuac, Mexico. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Miami, FL, and a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Rochester, MN. He was named a Clinical Investigator for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fund. He is a visiting healthcare fellow at the Goldwater Institute.
Dr. Fonseca's practice has focused on the diagnosis and treatment of plasma cell disorders and leading the multiple myeloma team in its efforts to develop a better understanding of the disease and its impact on patients. In his laboratory, Dr. Fonseca has led his team of researchers regarding the genetic nature of clonal cells of plasma cell disorders, myeloma bone disease, prognostic markers, and development of new therapies for the disease. He is an active participant and leader of myeloma clinical trials.
Throughout his training and career, Dr. Fonseca has received numerous awards and honors, including the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Clinical Investigator Award, and the International Waldenström Macroglobulinemia Research Award. Most notably, he is a Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator, the highest academic distinction given to investigators at his institution. Dr. Fonseca holds memberships and serves in positions for organizations such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, American Association for Cancer Research, and the International Myeloma Society. His research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute (R01, P01, SPORE), the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Multiple Myeloma Research Fund, and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fund.
Dr. Fonseca serves as reviewer and in editorial capacities for medical publications including Blood, Lancet, Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell, Leukemia, and the New England Journal of Medicine, among others. He has given many national and international presentations as a visiting professor, and has authored numerous articles (over 300), book chapters, editorials, abstracts, and letters. He has an H index of 123 with 57,617 citations (Google Scholar August 10th, 2022).
Disclosures
Consulting: AbbVie, Adaptive Biotechnologies, AMGEN, AZeneca, Bayer, Binding Site, BMS (Celgene), Millenium Takeda, Jansen, Juno, Kite, Merck, Pfizer, Pharmacyclics, Regeneron, Sanofi.
Scientific Advisory Boards: Adaptive Biotechnologies, Caris Life Sciences, Oncotracker.
Board of Directors: Antegene (for profit), AZBio (not for Profit)
Patent for FISH in MM - ~$2000/year
Recent Contributions to PracticeUpdate:
- ASCO 2024: Abstract Recommendations From Dr. Rafael Fonseca for Multiple Myeloma
- Association of Minimal Residual Disease Status 1 Year After Autologous HCT and Lenalidomide Maintenance With Long-Term Overall Survival in Multiple Myeloma
- Isatuximab, Carfilzomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone for Newly Diagnosed Transplantation-Eligible Multiple Myeloma
- Once-Weekly vs Twice-Weekly Bortezomib for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
- Gilteritinib as Posttransplant Maintenance for AML With Internal Tandem Duplication Mutation of FLT3
- Teclistamab for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma in the Real World
- Daratumumab, Carfilzomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone With Tandem Transplant for High-Risk Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
- Daratumumab, Bortezomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone for Multiple Myeloma
- Genomic Classification and Individualized Prognosis in Multiple Myeloma
- 2023 Top Story in Oncology: CAR T-Cell Therapy (Cilta-Cel) vs Standard of Care for Early Relapse Multiple Myeloma—The CARTITUDE-4 Study