Jayesh Desai

Jayesh Desai, MBBS, FRACP is Head of Solid Tumour Oncology and Associate Professor at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia's premier cancer research and treatment center. He is a leading investigator in early-phase oncology trials with particular expertise in gastrointestinal malignancies, sarcomas, and the integration of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a translational endpoint in dose escalation studies. Dr. Desai has led or co-led multiple first-in-human and phase I trials of novel targeted agents including KIT/PDGFRA inhibitors for GIST, CDK4/6 inhibitors, and immunotherapy combinations. His work on ctDNA dynamics during phase I dose escalation has been foundational in establishing ctDNA as a pharmacodynamic and early efficacy endpoint, enabling real-time assessment of drug activity in first-in-human studies without requiring serial tumor biopsies. He is a principal investigator for the Australian Phase I Consortium and has contributed to the TRIO and AGITG cooperative groups' early-phase trial portfolios. Dr. Desai has been particularly influential in the application of liquid biopsy technologies (ctDNA, circulating tumor cells) to early drug development workflows.