Lipika Goyal

Lipika Goyal, MD, MPhil is Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and an internationally recognized expert in the molecular therapeutics of cholangiocarcinoma and other biliary tract malignancies. While at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (prior to joining Stanford), she was a principal investigator for the ClarIDHy phase III trial that established ivosidenib as the first IDH1-inhibitor approved for cholangiocarcinoma—a pivotal achievement as IDH1 mutations occur in approximately 15–20% of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas. Dr. Goyal has produced foundational translational work characterizing the spectrum of IDH1/2 mutations in biliary tract cancer, the metabolic consequences of oncogenic IDH1 activity (2-hydroxyglutarate production and epigenetic reprogramming), and mechanisms of resistance to ivosidenib including second-site IDH1 mutations and RAS/RAF pathway activation. She has championed serial liquid biopsy with circulating tumor DNA to track clonal evolution, monitor treatment response, and detect emerging resistance mutations in real time. Dr. Goyal is a leading voice in precision oncology advocacy for cholangiocarcinoma and has been instrumental in building the evidence base that now supports routine molecular profiling for all BTC patients.