Mitchell Ho, PhD

Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Molecular Biology at NIH NCI

Speaker

Dr. Ho is Senior Investigator, Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and Director of the Antibody Engineering Program at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. He is the Chair of the Department of Biochemistry for the FAES Graduate School at the NIH. He also serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Antibody Therapeutics (Oxford University Press).

Dr. Ho has pioneered the generation of therapeutic antibodies that target cancer-associated heparan sulfate proteoglycans. A focus of his work is on the validation of cell surface glypicans such as GPC3, GPC2 and GPC1 as new therapeutic targets in cancer. This area of research ranges from investigation of the fundamental mechanisms by which glypicans regulate Wnt, Yap and other signaling molecules to the design of antibody-based cancer therapeutics. He established mammalian cell surface display and built shark and camel single domain antibody phage libraries as new tools to advance antibody engineering and drug discovery. The immune therapeutics based on his antibodies are being tested at clinical stages for treating liver cancer, neuroblastoma, mesothelioma and other cancers.

Dr. Ho received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Ira Pastan’s lab at the NIH/NCI. He was elected to the Board of Directors for the Antibody Society and to the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES). He received Asian & Pacific Islander American Organization (APAO) Scientific Achievement Award, Dr. Francisco S. Sy Award for Excellence in Mentorship at HHS, NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR) Innovation Award, and NCI Director’s Innovation Award.