Levi Garraway

American oncologist (born 1968)

Levi Garraway

Born| 1968 (age 56-57)

Oakland, California, US

Occupation| Oncologist
Title| Chief Medical Officer at Roche Holding AG
Spouse| Gisele
Children| 2
Parent(s)| Annie Marie Watkins Garraway
Michael Garraway (died 1999)
Relatives| Levi Watkins (uncle)
Academic background
Education| Harvard College (AB)
Harvard Medical School (MD, PhD)
Academic work
Institutions| Harvard University
Roche Holding AG
Eli Lilly and Company
Foundation Medicine
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute
Broad Institute

Levi A. Garraway (born 1968)[1] is an American oncologist. His research team was among the first to adapt genomics technologies to enable scalable, high-throughput clinical approaches to cancer gene mutation profiling. As a result, he was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Association for Cancer Research, and National Academy of Medicine.

## Early life and education

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Garraway was born to parents Annie Marie Watkins Garraway and Michael Garraway[2] in Oakland, California.[3] His mother earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and became a department chair at AT&T Bell Labs. As well, his uncle Levi Watkins was the first African-American student admitted to and graduate from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.[2] His father, an émigré from the Caribbean, was also a professor of plant biology at Ohio State University.[2][4] While Garraway was in high school, he hung around the university lab and helped his father with experiments.[5]

Garraway received his A.B. in biochemical sciences from Harvard College and his medical degree and Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. He then completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and his fellowship training in medical oncology at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute.[6] His choice to pursue a medical degree on top of his PhD was the result of his academic family, specifically his uncle.[7]

## Career

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Upon completing his fellowship, Garraway became an associate member of the Broad Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute.[5] At Broad Institute, Garraway's research involved the systematic characterization of critical and targetable mechanisms enacted by common genomic alterations in human tumors. His research team was among the first to adapt genomics technologies to enable scalable, high-throughput clinical approaches to cancer gene mutation profiling.[8] In 2007, Garraway and Matthew Meyerson published a paper detailing a method for large-panel testing of 238 DNA mutations. This led to the establishment of Foundation Medicine.[9] As a result of his discovery, Garraway was eleceted a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2009.[8]

During his tenure at the Broad Institute, Garraway also became the co-leader of the Cancer Genetics Program at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and an associate professor at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. In 2012, Garraway was a recipient of the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a "promising scientist under the age of 45 in recognition of his contributions to cancer research."[10] He also earned the 19th annual Herbert and Maxine Block Memorial Lectureship Award for Achievement in Cancer.[11]

On September 14, 2016, Garraway was appointed the Senior Vice President of Global Oncology at Eli Lilly and Company, succeeding Richard Gaynor.[12] In October 2019, Garraway started his new leadership role as Roche Holding AG's Chief Medical Officer.[7] He was also elected to the American Association for Cancer Research for "visionary contributions to the establishment of genomics-driven precision cancer medicine by pioneering high-throughput adaptation of genomic technologies to profile human tumors to identify actionable cancer gene mutations, allowing for precise patient population stratification."[13]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Garraway was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine "for the discovery of genetic drivers of melanoma, prostate cancer, and other malignancies, the discovery of mechanisms of response and resistance to anticancer therapies in melanoma and other cancer types, pioneering platforms and approaches to cancer precision medicine, and incorporating precision medicine principles in therapeutic development."[14]

## Personal life

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Garraway and his wife Gisele have two children together; a son and a daughter.[5] As of 2007[update], his younger sister Isla is a urologist and surgeon at University of California, Los Angeles's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.[15]

## References

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1. ^ "Dr. Levi Garraway CV". roche.com. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
2. ^ a b c Garraway, Levi A. (December 1, 2016). "Believe the miracles: of biomedical science and human suffering". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 126 (12): 4716–4722\. doi:10.1172/JCI90893. PMC 5127662. PMID 27906693.
3. ^ "Special Spotlight: Levi A. Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., Receives Prestigious Jane Cooke Wright Award from American Association for Cancer Research". cancer.gov. April 17, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
4. ^ "Garraway details family's key role in shaping career path". news.vumc.org. October 12, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
5. ^ a b c Rimas, Andrew (September 24, 2007). "He trolls genome for cancer clues". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 28, 2021 - via newspapers.com.
6. ^ "LEVI GARRAWAY". broadinstitute.org. Broad Institute. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
7. ^ a b "Levi Garraway: A passion for purpose". roche.com. Roche Holding AG. October 8, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
8. ^ a b "Levi Garraway, MD, PhD". the-asci.org. American Society for Clinical Investigation. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
9. ^ Burke, Afrienne (February 21, 2012). "Foundation Medicine: Personalizing Cancer Drugs". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
10. ^ Meade-Kelly, Veronice (September 26, 2013). "Levi Garraway awarded Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research". broadinstitute.org. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
11. ^ "Researcher receives achievement award". healio.com. December 1, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
12. ^ "Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., to become Senior Vice President of Global Oncology at Lilly, Succeeding Richard Gaynor, M.D., Who is Retiring after a Distinguished Career". investor.lilly.com. September 14, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
13. ^ "LEVI A. GARRAWAY, MD, PHD". aacr.org. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
14. ^ "National Academy of Medicine elects 100 new members". eurekalert.org. Eurekalert. October 19, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
15. ^ Curlee, Elizabeth (June 14, 2007). "A Deeper Reason For Cancer Research". cbsnews.com. CBS News. Retrieved May 28, 2021.

## External links

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* Levi Garraway publications indexed by Google Scholar