Dr. Robert Diasio, MD, is the William J and Charles H Mayo Professor and former Director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. His research focuses on understanding how genetic factors can affect the efficacy of anti-cancer agents and can also be potential predictors of individuals at risk of severe, and potentially life-threatening, adverse drug toxicities. Dr. Diasio’s primary research focus is on the chemotherapy agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which is prescribed to nearly 300,000 patients annually in the U.S. for the management of colorectal and other cancers. His lab has been instrumental in demonstrating that dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD, encoded by the DPYD gene) has a critical role in converting approximately 85 percent of administered 5-FU to inactive metabolites.
