Elizabeth Maher, M.D., Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Elizabeth Maher, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Neurology and a member of the Division of Hematology and Oncology.

Advances in the treatment of cancer are found in clinical clues that provide the spark that leads to scientific breakthroughs.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, Dr. Maher is a physician-scientist who earned her medical and doctorate degrees from McGill University in Montreal. She completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Toronto and then completed a medical oncology fellowship and subspecialty training in neuro-oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.

Throughout her career, Dr. Maher has served as both a clinical doctor and a research scientist. She joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute upon completing her clinical training, serving as an Instructor in Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology) for six years. During that time, she also pursued additional postdoctoral research training to combine her scientific focus on brain tumors with patient care for those with glioblastoma and the lower-grade gliomas.

Dr. Maher joined the faculty at UT Southwestern in 2006 as the Medical Director of the Neuro-Oncology Program, a role she served in until 2013 when she became the Director of Translational Research in Neuro-Oncology. She co-founded the Neuro-Oncology Translational Research Laboratory in the Annette Strauss Center for Neuro-Oncology, where she has pursued an active translational research program in gliomas and held numerous federal, state, and foundation grants. She serves as the Director of the Crystal Charity Ball Center for Pediatric Brain and Neurological Diseases, which has focused on pediatric medulloblastoma and glioma.

As a member of the international investigative team studying and targeting the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations in gliomas, Dr. Maher led multiple clinical trials at UT Southwestern that culminated in approval of the first molecularly targeted therapy for low-grade gliomas. Her innovative and groundbreaking work in partnership with UT Southwestern's imaging scientists led to key breakthroughs in translational neuro-oncology. She has published in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Cell, Cancer Metabolism, and Neuro-Oncology.

Dr. Maher is an active speaker, both nationally and internationally. She has served continuously on National Institutes of Health grant review committees for over 10 years. She has been a member of the Scientific Program and Education committees for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

She is a member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Society of Neuro-Oncology, and the American Association of Cancer Research.

Dr. Maher's passion for brain tumor patients is most evident in her work with the Head for the Cure Foundation and her motivational speaking at numerous events, including the Annual North Texas Head for the Cure 5K race.

Education

Other Post Graduate Training: McGill University Faculty of Medicine (1989)
Graduate School: McGill University Faculty of Medicine (1989), Physiology
Medical School: McGill University Faculty of Medicine (1993)
Internship/Residency: University of Toronto Hospitals, Canada (1996), Internal Medicine
Fellowship: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (1999), Hematology Oncology

Research Interest

Development of new in vitro assays to study and target tumor cell dormancy and migration
Development of new treatments for glioblastoma and low-grade gliomas
Development of non-invasive imaging biomarkers for glioma treatment response and resistance
Understanding how altered brain tumor metabolism is involved in tumor progression and resistance to current treatments.
Understanding tumor cell dormancy and the link to recurrent disease

Publications

Featured Publications

Vorasidenib in IDH1- or IDH2-Mutant Low-Grade Glioma.: Mellinghoff IK, van den Bent MJ, Blumenthal DT, Touat M, Peters KB, Clarke J, Mendez J, Yust-Katz S, Welsh L, Mason WP, Ducray F, Umemura Y, Nabors B, Holdhoff M, Hottinger AF, Arakawa Y, Sepulveda JM, Wick W, Soffietti R, Perry JR, Giglio P, de la Fuente M, Maher EA, Schoenfeld S, Zhao D, Pandya SS, Steelman L, Hassan I, Wen PY, Cloughesy TF, N Engl J Med 2023 Jun
Vorasidenib and ivosidenib in IDH1-mutant low-grade glioma: a randomized, perioperative phase 1 trial.: Mellinghoff IK, Lu M, Wen PY, Taylor JW, Maher EA, Arrillaga-Romany I, Peters KB, Ellingson BM, Rosenblum MK, Chun S, Le K, Tassinari A, Choe S, Toubouti Y, Schoenfeld S, Pandya SS, Hassan I, Steelman L, Clarke JL, Cloughesy TF, Nat Med 2023 Mar 29 3 615-622
Vorasidenib, a dual inhibitor of mutant IDH1/2, in recurrent or progressive glioma; Results of a first-in-human Phase I trial.: Mellinghoff IK, Penas-Prado M, Peters KB, Burris HA, Maher EA, Janku F, Cote GM, de la Fuente MI, Clarke JL, Ellingson BM, Chun S, Young RJ, Liu H, Choe S, Lu M, Le K, Hassan I, Steelman L, Pandya SS, Cloughesy TF, Wen PY, Clin Cancer Res 2021 Jun
Ivosidenib in Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1-Mutated Advanced Glioma.: Mellinghoff IK, Ellingson BM, Touat M, Maher E, De La Fuente MI, Holdhoff M, Cote GM, Burris H, Janku F, Young RJ, Huang R, Jiang L, Choe S, Fan B, Yen K, Lu M, Bowden C, Steelman L, Pandya SS, Cloughesy TF, Wen PY, J Clin Oncol 2020 10 38 29 3398-3406
In vivo MRS measurement of 2-hydroxyglutarate in patient-derived IDH-mutant xenograft mouse models versus glioma patients.: Tiwari V, Mashimo T, An Z, Vemireddy V, Piccirillo S, Askari P, Hulsey KM, Zhang S, de Graaf RA, Patel TR, Pan E, Mickey BE, Maher EA, Bachoo RM, Choi C, Magn Reson Med 2020 Jan
Isotope Tracing of Human Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinomas Demonstrates Suppressed Glucose Oxidation In Vivo.: Courtney KD, Bezwada D, Mashimo T, Pichumani K, Vemireddy V, Funk AM, Wimberly J, McNeil SS, Kapur P, Lotan Y, Margulis V, Cadeddu JA, Pedrosa I, DeBerardinis RJ, Malloy CR, Bachoo RM, Maher EA Cell Metab. 2018 Aug
Echo-planar spectroscopic imaging with dual-readout alternated gradients (DRAG-EPSI) at 7 T: Application for 2-hydroxyglutarate imaging in glioma patients.: An Z, Tiwari V, Ganji SK, Baxter J, Levy M, Pinho MC, Pan E, Maher EA, Patel TR, Mickey BE, Choi C Magn Reson Med 2017 Aug
Intrathecal enzyme replacement therapy reverses cognitive decline in mucopolysaccharidosis type I.: Nestrasil I, Shapiro E, Svatkova A, Dickson P, Chen A, Wakumoto A, Ahmed A, Stehel E, McNeil S, Gravance C, Maher E Am. J. Med. Genet. A 2017 Mar 173 3 780-783
Oncogenes Activate an Autonomous Transcriptional Regulatory Circuit That Drives Glioblastoma.: Singh DK, Kollipara RK, Vemireddy V, Yang XL, Sun Y, Regmi N, Klingler S, Hatanpaa KJ, Raisanen J, Cho SK, Sirasanagandla S, Nannepaga S, Piccirillo S, Mashimo T, Wang S, Humphries CG, Mickey B, Maher EA, Zheng H, Kim RS, Kittler R, Bachoo RM Cell Rep 2017 Jan 18 4 961-976
Prospective Longitudinal Analysis of 2-Hydroxyglutarate Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Identifies Broad Clinical Utility for the Management of Patients With IDH-Mutant Glioma.: Choi C, Raisanen JM, Ganji SK, Zhang S, McNeil SS, An Z, Madan A, Hatanpaa KJ, Vemireddy V, Sheppard CA, Oliver D, Hulsey KM, Tiwari V, Mashimo T, Battiste J, Barnett S, Madden CJ, Patel TR, Pan E, Malloy CR, Mickey BE, Bachoo RM, Maher EA J. Clin. Oncol. 2016 Nov 34 33 4030-4039

Books

Neoplasms of the central nervous system. In Diagnostic Atlas of Oncology

Maher E, McKee A (2010). Philadelphia, Elsevier

Glioblastoma. In Rosenberg's Molecular and Genetic Basis of Neurological and Psychiatric Disease.

Maher E, Bachoo, R (2024). San Diego, Elsevier

Honors & Awards

Healthcare Hero Award
Head for the Cure Foundation (2025)
Healthcare Hero Award
Head for the Cure Foundation (2023)
Legacy of Love Award
Head for the Cure Foundation (2020)
Challenge Grant, Principal Investigator
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, National Institutes of Health (2009-2011)
Brain Tumor Research Award
Goldhirsh Foundation (2005-2008)
F.M. Hill Award for Humanitarianism
Women's College Hospital, University of Toronto (1994-1995)
Faculty of Medicine Prize in Medical Ethics and Jurisprudence
McGill University (1993)
Glaxo Undergraduate Research Award
College of Family Physicians of Canada (1993)
Sopman Humanitarian Award
The Toronto Hospital, University of Toronto (1993-1994)
Williams Prize in Medicine and Clinical Medicine
McGill University (1993)
Ciba-Geigy Research Award for Outstanding Student Research
McGill University (1990)
PhD with Honors
McGill University (1989)
Young Investigator's Award
Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation (1986)
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
Elected Member (1982)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Association of Cancer Research
American Medical Association
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Society for Neuro-Oncology