Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA

Gregory Riggins is the inaugural Irving J. Sherman M.D. Research Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the director of the Brain Cancer Biology and Therapy Laboratory at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, started in 2003 and the director of the division of neurosurgery research.

The Brain Cancer Biology and Therapy Laboratory is a translational cancer research lab for brain and other cancers.  His laboratory has helped develop cancer therapies based on drug repurposing, drug combinations, novel targeted therapy, bacteria based immunotherapy, and cancer prevention.

The first phase 1 clinical trial from his work has demonstrated that an improved formulation of mebendazole is safe in high doses and in combination with Temozolomide for newly diagnosed patients with glioblastoma.  Evidence from this trial suggests further investigation as a phase 2 trial.

A first in human phase 1 safety trial for the novel procaspase 3 activator, PAC-1, (first developed at the University of Illinois) has opened.  The trial will include a component for newly diagnosed glioblastoma based on the work from the Brain Cancer Biology and Therapy Laboratory.

In addition to the new therapies for glioblastoma, a major area of active research is the development of improved therapeutic approaches for IDH mutant gliomas.