He is the Principal Investigator of the Mayo Clinic SPORE in Multiple Myeloma. He received a B.Sc. degree and M.D. degree from the University of Toronto. He completed an internship in internal medicine and a residency at the University of Toronto Sunnybrook Medical Centre, as well as a residency at Stanford University Medical Center and completed a Fellowship program in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, where he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Kuehl for seven years. After working at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City for eight years, he moved to Mayo Clinic Arizona in 2004.
Dr. Bergsagel’s research interest focuses on molecular pathogenesis of multiple myeloma. Working together with his wife, Dr. Marta Chesi, he identified the recurrent chromosome translocations in multiple myeloma, a promiscuous array of mutations that activate the NFKB pathway, and developed a novel transgenic mouse model that faithfully reproduces the genetic, phenotypic, clinical and therapeutic features of human myeloma. An active investigator in many clinical trials, he has led efforts to develop targeted therapy for multiple myeloma, starting with targeting the t(4;14) chromosome translocation that he identified.
Dr. Bergsagel has received numerous honors and awards during his training and career. He has been awarded the 2009 Robert A. Kyle Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator by Mayo Clinic Arizona, the 2010 Daniel E. Bergsagel Visiting Professor by the Ontario Cancer Institute, an award in honor of his father, also a myeloma researcher, the 2012 David A. Galton Lecturer, Hammersmith Hospital, the 2013 Bertha A. Bouroncle Lectureship, Ohio State University Medical Center, and the 2017 McCardle Lectureship, University of Wisconsin.