Lunit, a leading medical AI company, announced today a new member of its advisory board, a world-renowned medical oncologist, Dr. Tony Mok, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Oncology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Dr. Mok joins the Lunit advisory board, extending the current list of members—mostly preeminent experts in radiology—Drs. Eliot Siegel, Linda Moy, and Khan Siddiqui. Dr. Mok will be the first oncologist to join the Lunit advisory board.
Dr. Tony Mok, BMSc, MD, FRCP(C), FRCP(Edin), FHKCP, FHKAM(Medicine), FASCO, has contributed to over 240 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Science, Lancet, Nature Medicine and Journal of Clinical Oncology, and published multiple editorials and textbooks.
His main research interest focuses on biomarker and molecular targeted therapy in lung cancer. He was the Principal Investigator and first author on the landmark IRESSA® Pan-Asia Study (IPASS), which was the first study that confirmed the application of precision medicine for advanced lung cancer. He has also led and co-led multiple international phase III studies including the FASTACT 2, PROFILE 1014, IMPRESS, ARCHER 1050, ALEX, AURA 3 and KEYNOTE 042, which have helped to define the current practice of lung cancer treatment. His work was recognized by numerous awards including Fellowship of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) in 2017, and ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
"Artificial intelligence will take on a prominent role in the management of cancer patients by augmenting doctors' ability to see and to know," said Dr. Tony Mok. "Starting with the current established capacity in reading mammography, chest X-ray, CT scan and histology slide, AI will likely become an essential tool for early cancer detection. Moving on, AI will aid doctors in treating cancer with robotic surgery, biomarker selection, and even medical consultation. We are in an exciting era and I trust the young scientists and engineers at Lunit will take us one step forward."
Dr. Mok will be advising Lunit on their therapeutic biomarker research and development, which focuses on developing AI biomarkers that accurately predict response to specific treatment. Lunit has applied its award-winning deep learning technology to develop tissue-based biomarkers that predict response to adjuvant chemotherapy in early breast cancer and immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced lung cancer. The company had presented abstracts last year during the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meetings.
“We are more than delighted to have Dr. Mok join our advisory board,” said Brandon Suh, CEO of Lunit. “We deeply respect Dr. Mok’s astounding professional track record and his influence in the field of oncology. With his joining, we are thrilled to learn from his insights and better achieve our goal of delivering robust AI-powered analytics with unprecedented predictive power. With his contribution, we are confident that we can save more lives by identifying more patients who will benefit from advanced cancer treatment and save medical costs by decreasing unnecessary treatment.”
Dr. Mok has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in oncology, President of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of ASCO. He has extensive experience working with major biopharmaceutical companies and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of AstraZeneca.