SUMMARY
The clinical and research work of Kebede H. Begna, M.D., involves acute and chronic leukemias. Acute leukemia includes both acute myeloid and lymphoblastic leukemias. Chronic myeloid leukemia includes myelodysplastic and chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms. Dr. Kebede studies BCR-ABL-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms, including polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, myelofibrosis and other rare myeloid neoplasms. He has published clinical observations and leads the chronic myeloid leukemia clinic with ongoing phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials on these conditions.
Focus areas
- Acute myeloid leukemia. Dr. Begna conducts phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. He explores therapies to target specific molecular markers on leukemia or cancer cells. These trials include participants with refractory and relapsed forms of the disease.
- Chronic myeloid leukemia. Dr. Begna conducts phase 2 and 3 clinical trials for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who did not respond to or were intolerant to available therapies.
Significance to patient care
Patients with acute leukemia need more treatment choices. To help meet this need, Dr. Begna aims to bring new medicines to Mayo Clinic that are in the early phase of development. He does this with phase 1 or 2 clinical trials. Phase 1 clinical trials test medicines that may work in a laboratory but are not yet proved to be safe in humans. This type of research takes a lot of time, attention and hard work. Mayo Clinic has a knowledgeable team of healthcare professionals, including researchers, that help speed up this complicated process.
Professional highlights
- Associate editor, American Journal of Hematology, 2019-present.
- Reviewer, Blood Cancer Journal, 2019-present.