Dr. Emmanuel Antonarakis named Masonic Cancer Center Associate Director for Translational Research and Director of Genitourinary Oncology in HOT Division
August 31, 2021 - Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, MD, has joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School where he has been appointed the Associate Director for Translational Research at the Masonic Cancer Center. Dr. Antonarakis will also serve as the Clark Endowed Professor of Medicine and Director of Genitourinary Oncology in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation (HOT) of the U of M Medical School. He succeeds Jill Siegfried, PhD, as the AD of Translational Research, who retired earlier this summer after a prestigious career in the field of lung cancer biology and experimental therapeutics.
“Dr. Antonarakis complements the Masonic Cancer Center's expertise in prostate and genitourinary cancers very well,” said Douglas Yee, MD, Director of the Masonic Cancer Center. “He will be joining a team of clinical and basic scientists recently recruited to enhance our translational research in this important set of diseases. He is already well recognized in this field and will enhance our translational research efforts across the entire Masonic Cancer Center by assuming the position of Associate Director of Translational Research.”
Dr. Antonarakis came to the University of Minnesota from the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center where he was a Professor of Oncology and Urology and Co-Director of the Prostate Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic. Along with his leadership and academic roles, Dr. Antonarakis is a genitourinary medical oncologist with a particular focus on recurrent and advanced prostate cancer, and he will see patients within the M Health Fairview system.
“I am delighted to be joining the U of M Medical School and the Masonic Cancer Center to further the clinical care of patients with prostate cancer and other genitourinary malignancies, to expand clinical trial options for patients with advanced prostate cancer, and to lead translational efforts related to prostate cancer and other malignancies,” said Dr. Antonarakis. “As AD of Translation, I will strive to integrate basic and clinical research across the cancer spectrum in order to enhance scientific discovery and improve patient outcomes.”
His research focuses on clinical and translational studies in prostate cancer, bringing novel therapies to patients with this disease. He is interested in developing novel androgen-directed therapies, genetically-targeted therapies, and immunotherapies for men with recurrent or advanced prostate cancer, as well as using germline and tumor genomics to inform precision oncology approaches for those patients.
Dr. Antonarakis has been an active member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), the ECOG-ACRIN Cooperative Group, the NCI Prostate Cancer Task Force, and the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium (PCCTC). He has received numerous awards for his translational research and his teaching skills. He is also involved in mentoring fellows and junior faculty in the clinical care of genitourinary cancers and the development of translational clinical trials related to prostate cancer.
"Dr. Antonarakis is one of the brightest minds in genitourinary oncology working in the field today,” noted Anne Blaes, MD, Interim Director of the Department of Medicine’s Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation Division at the U of M Medical School. “His ability to think from the molecular level to the whole patient and population-level makes him an ideal candidate to assume this role charged with translating cutting-edge science into the clinic. We are very fortunate to have him joining us!"
Dr. Antonarakis obtained his medical degree from the University of Wales College of Medicine (United Kingdom) in 2003, and then completed a Residency in Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, followed by a Fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Since 2010, he has served on the Johns Hopkins faculty as an attending physician and translational researcher, before joining the Masonic Cancer Center and the U of M Medical School in September 2021.
About the Masonic Cancer Center
The Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, is the Twin Cities’ only Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated ‘Outstanding’ by the National Cancer Institute. As Minnesota’s Cancer Center, we have served the entire state for more than 25 years. Our researchers, educators, and care providers have worked to discover the causes, prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer and cancer-related diseases. Learn more at cancer.umn.edu.
About the University of Minnesota Medical School
The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School, both the Twin Cities campus and Duluth campus, is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. For more information about the U of M Medical School, please visit med.umn.edu.