Kenneth Aldape, MD, is a neuropathologist with a research interest in primary brain tumors. He has experience with identification of biomarkers in gliomas, including microarray studies. He has been very activity involved in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) studies of primary brain tumor, including glioblastoma, astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma. A number of key findings from these and other studies have led to a re-classification of brain tumors, and Dr. Aldape is a key figure in the World Health Organization group that defines diagnostic criteria for these tumors. For the first time, and partial as result of his work, the recent WHO classification includes molecular information as part of the diagnostic criteria for brain tumors. He identified the relationship of IDH mutation and epigenetic changes in DNA methylation (G-CIMP), which has led to new ideas regarding epigenetic alterations as critical to gliomagenesis.
Overall, his work characterizes brain tumor subtypes as well as identifies clinically relevant molecular alterations in these tumors to advance how these tumors are understood and better classified in order to promote precision medicine for brain tumors. He has over 300 peer reviewed publications as well as a track record of independent grant funding. He was former Department Chair of Pathology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and is now a Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.