Edith A. Perez

Dr. Perez earned her medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in San Juan and completed her residency in internal medicine at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. In addition, she completed her fellowship training at the University of California, Davis. She received additional leadership training from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia and the Harvard Executive Development Program at the Harvard Kennedy School, in Boston. Dr. Perez is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology.

Dr. Perez joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2020 as its Chief Medical Officer. She brought her two decades of academic experience at the Mayo Clinic and her established leadership in the oncology community with her to Bolt. She will maintain her academic affiliation as Professor of Medicine with Mayo Clinic. She will also maintain leadership roles in various non-profit organizations, including The Donna Foundation and Stand Up to Cancer.

Her career at Mayo Clinic has contributed to her academic excellence, global engagement in research and education, and compassion for patients. Dr. Perez became Director of the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program in 2009. She has also served as Full Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic since 2001, an appointment to which she was promoted after working as an Assistant and then Professor at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Perez has also been a Supplemental Consultant in the Department of Hematology/Oncology and Cancer Biology at Mayo Clinic since 2015.

Throughout her academic career, Dr. Perez has served as principal investigator in the development and execution of a wide range of clinical trials exploring the use of new therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Her experience with these clinical trials highlighted the need for basic research studies to evaluate the role of genetic markers in the development and aggressiveness of breast cancer. Her leadership in developing and spearheading these basic research studies has helped advance an understanding of biomarkers’ prognostic and predictive applicability.

Dr. Perez also has extensive editorial experience, having served on the editorial boards of and as a reviewer for multiple journals. She has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed articles.

She worked as the Vice president and Head of the BioOncology-U.S. Medical Affairs unit at Genentech from 2015 to 2018, where she led the development and conduct of translational studies with registrational intent, including engaging in discussions with the FDA. Her activities those years also included membership at the Genentech/Roche Cancer Immunotherapy Governance Committee.

Dr. Perez is also the co-developer of the 26.2 National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer, which raises funds for under-served women and for genomics and immunologic translational cancer research.

A goal of Dr. Perez’s groundbreaking research is understanding the biological basis of predictability of prognosis and prediction of benefit to therapies. Pivotal information to emerge from this research includes the impact of membrane, cytoplasmic, and nuclear markers on benefit to chemotherapy with or without anti-HER2 therapy, and expanding these findings to triple-negative breast cancer.

Citations

• Perez EA, Reinholz MM, Hillman DW, Tenner KS, Schroeder MJ, Davidson NE, Martino S, Sledge GW, Harris LN, Gralow JR, Dueck AC, Ketterling RP, Ingle JN, Lingle WL, Kaufman PA, Visscher DW, Jenkins RB. HER2 and chromosome 17 effect on patient outcome in the N9831 adjuvant trastuzumab trial. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Oct 1; 28(28):4307-15. Epub 2010 Aug 09. PMCID:2954132.
• Perez EA, Dueck AC, McCullough AE, Reinholz MM, Tenner KS, Davidson NE, Gralow J, Harris LN, Kutteh LA, Hillman DW, Jenkins RB, Chen B. Predictability of adjuvant trastuzumab benefit in N9831 patients using the ASCO/CAP HER2-positivity criteria. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012 Jan 18; 104(2):159-62. Epub 2011 Dec 2. PMCID:3260130.
• Perez EA, Press MF, Dueck AC, Jenkins RB, Kim C, Chen B, Villalobos I, Paik S, Buyse M, Wiktor AE, Meyer R, Finnigan M, Zujewski J, Shing M, Stern HM, Lingle WL, Reinholz MM, Slamon DJ. Immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization assessment of HER2 in clinical trials of adjuvant therapy for breast cancer (NCCTG N9831, BCIRG 006, and BCIRG 005). Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2013 Feb; 138(1):99-108. Epub 2013 Feb 19. PMCID:3585916.
• Perez EA, Dueck AC, McCullough AE, Chen B, Geiger XJ, Jenkins RB, Lingle WL, Davidson NE, Martino S, Kaufman PA, Kutteh LA, Sledge GW, Harris LN, Gralow JR, Reinholz MM. Impact of PTEN protein expression on benefit from adjuvant trastuzumab in early-stage human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group N9831 trial. J Clin Oncol. 2013 Jun 10; 31(17):2115-22. Epub 2013 May 06. PMCID:3731983.
• Sonnenblick A, de Azambuja E, Agbor-Tarh D, Bradbury I, Campbell C, Huang Y, Dueck AC, Pritchard KI, Wolff AC, Jackisch C, Lang I, Untch M, Smith I, Boyle F, Xu B, Gomez H, Perez EA, Piccart M, Azim HA Jr. Lapatinib-Related Rash and Breast Cancer Outcome in the ALTTO Phase III Randomized Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2016 Aug; 108 (8) Epub 2016 Apr 20 PMID: 27098150 PMCID: 5017935 DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djw037.
• Reinholz MM, Chen B, Dueck AC, Tenner K, Ballman K, Riehle D, Jenkins RB, Geiger XJ, McCullough AE, Perez EA. IGF1R Protein Expression Is Not Associated with Differential Benefit to Concurrent Trastuzumab in Early-Stage HER2(+) Breast Cancer from the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (Alliance) Adjuvant Trastuzumab Trial N9831. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Aug 1; 23 (15):4203-4211 Epub 2017 May 22 PMID: 28533226 PMCID: 5769872 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-15-0574 28612225 PMCID: 5543189 DOI: 10.1007/s10549-017-4304-7.
• Andersson M, Lopez-Vega JM, Petit T, Zamagni C, Easton V, Kamber J, Restuccia E, Perez EA. Efficacy and Safety of Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab Administered in a Single Infusion Bag, Followed by Vinorelbine: VELVET Cohort 2 Final Results. Oncologist. 2017 Oct; 22 (10):1160-1168 Epub 2017 June 07 PMID: 28592618 PMCID: 5634765 DOI: 10.1634/theoncologist.2017-0079.
• Necela BM, Axenfeld BC, Serie DJ, Kachergus JM, Perez EA, Thompson EA, Norton N. The antineoplastic drug, trastuzumab, dysregulates metabolism in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes. Clin Transl Med. 2017 Dec; 6 (1):5 Epub 2017 Jan 18 PMID: 28101782 PMCID: 5243239 DOI: 10.1186/s40169-016-0133-2.
• Chumsri S, Sperinde J, Liu H, Gligorov J, Spano JP, Antoine M, Moreno-Aspita A, Tan W, Winslow J, Petropoulos CJ, Chenna A, Bates M, Weidler JM, Huang W, Dueck AC, Perez EA. High p95HER2/HER2 Ratio Associated With Poor Outcome in Trastuzumab-Treated HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer NCCTG N0337 and NCCTG 98-32-52 (Alliance). Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 12 PMID: 29530935 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-1864.

Genomics is an important pillar of biology, prognosis, and predictability of therapy. As principal investigator, Dr. Perez has been one of the leaders in this effort.

Citations

• Reinholz MM, Eckel-Passow JE, Anderson SK, Asmann YW, Zschunke MA, Oberg AL, McCullough AE, Dueck AC, Chen B, April CS, Wickham-Garcia E, Jenkins RB, Cunningham JM, Jen J, Perez EA, Fan JB, Lingle WL. Expression profiling of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary breast tumors using cancer-specific and whole genome gene panels on the DASL(R) platform. BMC Med Genomics. 2010; 3:60. Epub 2010 Dec 20. PMCID:3022545.
• Kalari KR, Rossell D, Necela BM, Asmann YW, Nair A, Baheti S, Kachergus JM, Younkin CS, Baker T, Carr JM, Tang X, Walsh MP, Chai HS, Sun Z, Hart SN, Leontovich AA, Hossain A, Kocher JP, Perez EA, Reisman DN, Fields AP, Thompson EA. Deep Sequence Analysis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Integrated Analysis of Gene Expression, Alternative Splicing, and Single Nucleotide Variations in Lung Adenocarcinomas with and without Oncogenic KRAS Mutations. Front Oncol. 2012; 2:12. Epub 2012 Feb 10. PMCID:3356053.
• Norton N, Sun Z, Asmann YW, Serie DJ, Necela BM, Bhagwate A, Jen J, Eckloff BW, Kalari KR, Thompson KJ, Carr JM, Kachergus JM, Geiger XJ, Perez EA, Thompson EA. Gene expression, single nucleotide variant and fusion transcript discovery in archival material from breast tumors. PLoS One. 2013; 8(11):e81925. Epub 2013 Nov 22. PMCID:3838386.
• Norton N, Olson RM, Pegram M, Tenner K, Ballman KV, Clynes R, Knutson KL, Perez EA. Association studies of Fcgamma receptor polymorphisms with outcome in HER2+ breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab in NCCTG (Alliance) Trial N9831. Cancer Immunol Res. 2014 Oct; 2(10):962-9. Epub 2014 Jul 02. PMCID:4215796.
• Shah MV, Wiktor AE, Meyer RG, Tenner KS, Ballman KV, Green SJ, Sukov WR, Ketterling RP, Perez EA, Jenkins RB. Change in Pattern of HER2 Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization (FISH) Results in Breast Cancers Submitted for FISH Testing: Experience of a Reference Laboratory Using US Food and Drug Administration Criteria and American Society of Clinical Oncology and College of American Pathologists Guidelines. J Clin Oncol. 2016 Oct 10; 34 (29):3502-3510 PMID: 27458302 DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2015.61.8983.
• Perez EA, Ballman KV, Mashadi-Hossein A, Tenner KS, Kachergus JM, Norton N, Necela BM, Carr JM, Ferree S, Perou CM, Baehner F, Cheang MC, Thompson EA. Intrinsic Subtype and Therapeutic Response Among HER2-Positive Breast Tumors from the NCCTG (Alliance) N9831 Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2017 Feb; 109 (2) Epub 2016 Oct 28 PMID: 27794124 PMCID: 5903647 DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djw207.
• Serie DJ, Crook JE, Necela BM, Dockter TJ, Wang X, Asmann YW, Fairweather D, Bruno KA, Colon-Otero G, Perez EA, Thompson EA, Norton N. Genome-wide association study of cardiotoxicity in the NCCTG N9831 (Alliance) adjuvant trastuzumab trial. Pharmacogenet Genomics. 2017 Oct; 27 (10):378-385 PMID: 28763429 PMCID: 5581215 DOI: 10.1097/FPC.0000000000000302.

Dr. Perez was the principal investigator in one of the first groups of researchers to identify a prognostic, as well as a predictive marker for benefit to adjuvant trastuzumab using genome profiling. These studies have led to an increased understanding of the impact of immune parameters on prognosis and prediction of therapies.

Citations

• Perez EA, Thompson EA, Ballman KV, Anderson SK, Asmann YW, Kalari KR, Eckel-Passow JE, Dueck AC, Tenner KS, Jen J, Fan JB, Geiger XJ, McCullough AE, Chen B, Jenkins RB, Sledge GW, Winer EP, Gralow JR, Reinholz MM. Genomic Analysis Reveals That Immune Function Genes Are Strongly Linked to Clinical Outcome in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group N9831 Adjuvant Trastuzumab Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2015 Mar 1; 33(7):701-8. Epub 2015 Jan 20. PMCID:4334774.
• Knutson KL, Clynes R, Shreeder B, Yeramian P, Kemp KP, Ballman K, Tenner KS, Erskine CL, Norton N, Northfelt D, Tan W, Calfa C, Pegram M, Mittendorf EA, Perez EA. Improved Survival of HER2+ Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Trastuzumab and Chemotherapy Is Associated with Host Antibody Immunity against the HER2 Intracellular Domain. Cancer Res. 2016 Jul 1; 76 (13):3702-10 Epub 2016 Apr 20 PMID: 27197192 PMCID: 5594563 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-3091.
• Norton N, Fox N, McCarl CA, Tenner KS, Ballman K, Erskine CL, Necela BM, Northfelt D, Tan WW, Calfa C, Pegram M, Colon-Otero G, Perez EA, Clynes R, Knutson KL. Generation of HER2-specific antibody immunity during trastuzumab adjuvant therapy associates with reduced relapse in resected HER2 breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 14;20(1):52. doi: 10.1186/s13058-018-0989-8.PMID:29898752.
• Chumsri S, Serie DJ, Li Z, Pogue-Geile KL, Soyano-Muller AE, Mashadi-Hossein A, Warren S, Lou Y, Colon-Otero G, Knutson KL, Perez EA, Moreno-Aspitia A, Thompson EA. Effects of Age and Immune Landscape on Outcome in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer in the NCCTG N9831 (Alliance) and NSABP B-31 (NRG) Trials. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jul 15; 25 (14):4422-4430 Epub 2019 Feb 26 PMID: 30808774 PMCID: 6634998 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-2206.

• Elks Scholarship Award (1972)
• Magna Cum Laude - University of Puerto Rico (1975)
• Scholarship - National Health Service Corps (1975)
• Who's Who in American Women's Biography (1983-1992)
• NCI Travel Award - American Association for Cancer Research (1987)
• Commercialization for "Establishing the Clinical Utility of Novel Genetic Markers for Screening High-Risk Breast Cancer Patients," Sponsored Research Funding Award 2000 - Office of Technology, Office of Intellectual Property (formerly Mayo Medical Ventures) (2000)
• Community Connections - Celebration of Leadership Award - Awarding Organization (2000)
• Crusader for Breast Cancer Award - Rainbows Abound, Jacksonville, FL (2001)
• Horizon Scientific Cancer Research Award - Bristol Myers Squibb and Susan G. Komen Foundation (2002)
• Outstanding Faculty Member - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (2002 & 2004)
• Honorary Citizen and Day Proclamation - City of Little Rock, AR (2003)
• North Florida Hispanic of the Year Award (2003)
• Healthcare Heroes Super Scientist - Jacksonville Business Journal, Jacksonville, Florida (2006)
• Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of North Florida (2006)
• Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professorship of Medicine (2006)
• Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator - Executive Board and Research Committee (2007)
• Alpha Omega Alpha - Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (2009)
• Outstanding Faculty Member - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (2009)
• Outstanding Course Director - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (2010)
• Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award - NFL (2011)
• One of the 75 Most Influential People in Jacksonville Healthcare from Jacksonville Magazine's 904 (2012)
• The Girls Inc. of Jacksonville Woman of Vision Award (2013)
• Jacksonville University Community Woman of the Year (2013)
• Susan G. Komen® Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Clinical Research (2013)
• 'Woman of Vision' Award - The Girls Inc., Florida (2013)
• Claude Jacquillat Award - International Congress on Anticancer Treatment (2014)
• OncLive’s Giants of Cancer Care Award (2014)
• Highly Cited Researcher: Clinical Medicine - Thomson Reuters (2014)
• Top Expert - Breast Cancer - Expertscape (2014)
• 2017 Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) (2017)
• 2019 Komen Scholar (2019)

• "Edith A. Perez, M.D. - Mayo Clinic Faculty Profiles - Mayo Clinic Research". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Cancer Center Departments and Centers - Mayo Clinic Cancer Center - Mayo Clinic". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Alliance - Board of Directors". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Perez EA - PubMed – NCBI". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Breast Cancer Marathon". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Mayo Clinic Oncologist and MD Anderson Researcher Named 2013 Susan G. Komen Brinker Awardees for Scientific Distinction - Susan G. Komen". September 11, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Edith A. Perez, MD - Giants of Cancer Care". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Board of Directors". Retrieved September 3, 2015.