Karla V. Ballman, Ph.D.

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SUMMARY

The research of Karla V. Ballman, Ph.D., focuses on the design and implementation of clinical trials, particularly for small patient populations and early detection and interception of disease. Also, Dr. Ballman works on biomarker development from high-dimensional data and the subsequent validation of these biomarkers.

Focus areas

• Early-phase clinical trials in cancer. Dr. Ballman develops clinical trial designs for small patient populations, such as rare cancers, to determine whether a new cancer treatment has sufficient activity to justify a larger clinical trial. Her focus is on using randomization in these trials, as well as the role of bootstrapping, to increase the ability to distinguish between promising and futile treatments.
• Breast cancer, genitourinary cancer and brain cancer. Dr. Ballman investigates the effects of new treatment options in large, multicenter, phase 3 clinical trials. The focus of these trials is to improve patients' long-term outcomes, such as reducing the risk of cancer recurrence or cancer progression or improving patient survival. She also evaluates whether treatments can be de-escalated in patients who have good outcomes to minimize overtreatment and personalize treatment.
• Biomarker development. Dr. Ballman collaborates with others to develop biomarkers using high-dimensional molecular data. Her particular interest is developing biomarkers that predict treatment benefit for particular treatment-disease combinations and biomarkers that are prognostic of disease outcomes.

Significance to patient care

Dr. Ballman's research has set new standards of treatment in breast cancer, bladder cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumors and metastatic brain cancer. Her work adds to the development of biomarkers that can determine whether a patient is at a higher risk of prostate cancer coming back after initial removal of the cancer. Overall, Dr. Ballman's clinical trials provide evidence for the approval of new treatments that make patient outcomes better. Her work in biomarker development and validation yields crucial information for matching patients with the right treatments.

Professional highlights

• Distinguished reviewer, JAMA Oncology, 2024-present.
• Director, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center Biostatistics Shared Resource, 2023-present.
• Chair, Evidence-Based Methodology Core, American Joint Committee on Cancer Editorial Committee, 2019-present.
• Member, National Cancer Institute Breast Cancer Steering Committee, 2018-present.
• Deputy editor, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2017-2022.
• Fellow, American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2021.
• Associate editor, Neuro-Oncology, 2010-2017.