Filip Janku

Filip Janku, MD, PhD is Professor of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics and Deputy Department Chair for Clinical Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he has dedicated his career to the clinical development of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibitors and to advancing liquid biopsy-guided approaches to early-phase oncology trials. Dr. Janku is internationally recognized for his extensive experience with PI3K pathway inhibitor phase I trials — having led or co-led first-in-human and dose-escalation studies of alpha-selective, beta-selective, delta-selective, and pan-PI3K inhibitors, as well as dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors and selective AKT inhibitors across nearly all solid tumor histologies. He has been a consistent pioneer in using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and liquid biopsy platforms to inform phase I trial conduct, demonstrating that ctDNA monitoring during dose escalation can detect early tumor response or resistance before radiographic changes, identify on-target and off-target toxicity correlates, and guide real-time adaptive modifications to study design. Dr. Janku has also contributed important work characterizing the metabolic pharmacodynamic biomarkers of PI3K inhibition — including fasting serum insulin, glucose, C-peptide, and metabolomic signatures — establishing these as accessible pharmacodynamic endpoints for PI3K pathway inhibitor phase I trials. He completed his medical training in the Czech Republic and a fellowship in experimental therapeutics at MD Anderson, and has since authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications.