Joseph Bertino

Joseph Bertino is a foundational figure in cancer clinical pharmacology, having elucidated the pharmacology of methotrexate and anti-folate drugs that remain among the most widely used cancer therapeutics. His research defined dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene amplification as a mechanism of methotrexate resistance, one of the earliest examples of gene amplification as a drug resistance mechanism in cancer. He established pharmacokinetic monitoring protocols for high-dose methotrexate that guide leucovorin rescue and prevent fatal toxicity. His decades of work on folate metabolism in cancer has informed the development of pemetrexed and other next-generation antifolates.