Mark W. Kieran

Mark W. Kieran, MD, PhD is a physician-scientist who served for over two decades as Director of Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, where he led a transformative clinical and translational research program focused on pediatric brain tumors. He is one of the pioneers of BRAF-targeted therapy in pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG), having led or contributed to the first clinical trials demonstrating clinically meaningful activity of BRAF inhibitors such as vemurafenib and dabrafenib in BRAF V600E-mutant pediatric brain tumors, including pediatric pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA), ganglioglioma, and diffuse glioma. Dr. Kieran's translational research program established the molecular rationale and early clinical evidence for BRAF inhibition in pediatric CNS tumors at a time when BRAF V600E was recognized as the most common actionable mutation in pLGG. He also led pioneering studies of anti-angiogenic therapy in pediatric brain tumors, including one of the first studies of bevacizumab in children with recurrent CNS tumors, and contributed to understanding the activity of MEK inhibitors—now considered the preferred targeted strategy for BRAF-fusion pLGG—through collaborative consortium work. His administrative and clinical leadership helped build the institutional infrastructure for multi-center pediatric brain tumor trials. After transitioning from academic practice to industry, Dr. Kieran has contributed to the development of next-generation targeted therapies for pediatric CNS malignancies at the industry-academic interface. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and served in leadership roles for the Children's Oncology Group (COG) brain tumor committee, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC), and the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE) brain tumor committee.