Biography

Dr. B. Mark Evers is an accomplished surgical oncologist, cancer researcher, educator, and administrator. He was recruited to the University of Kentucky (UK) in 2009 as director of the UK Markey Cancer Center (MCC); physician-in-chief of the Oncology Service Line; and associate vice president for oncology research and strategic development. Under his leadership, the MCC achieved National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation in 2013, successfully competed for renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant (P30) in 2018, and achieved Comprehensive status with its recent renewal in 2023. Prior to his recruitment to UK, Dr. Evers was the Robertson-Poth Distinguished Chair in General Surgery and director of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Cancer Center.

The Evers laboratory, which has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the last 32 years, is focused on signaling pathways regulating proliferation of both normal and neoplastic intestine. It has described critical roles for components of the PI3K and mTOR pathways on colorectal cancer growth, progression, and metastasis. Moreover, his laboratory has identified a critical role for neoplastic lipogenesis and expression of fatty acid synthase (FASN) in colorectal cancer progression. Another major focus is the study of GI hormones (e.g., neurotensin) and their effects on normal and neoplastic growth, metabolism, and obesity. In his surgical-based laboratory, Dr. Evers and his colleagues have over 30 years of experience in the development of novel models and techniques that allow them to address translational and clinically-relevant questions in murine models, such as the establishment and utilization of patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), which include one-of-a-kind GI and endocrine tumor models.

Dr. Evers is either principal investigator (PI) or multi-PI of four current R01s and has published more than 450 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and reviews. Throughout his career, he has received more than 30 awards, including the Flance-Karl research award from the American Surgical Association (ASA), and held numerous leadership positions in national and international organizations. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), the Association of American Physicians (AAP), and the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI). He is the past president of the Society of University Surgeons, past president of the Southern Surgical Association, and past treasurer of the ASA.

Dr. Evers has trained and mentored over 90 junior faculty, fellows, residents, and students in the performance of translational GI cancer studies involving interdisciplinary teams of investigators. He is a multi-PI of a T32 to provide interdisciplinary research training in cancer biology to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (T32 CA165990) and multi-PI of another T32 designed to provide basic oncology training to surgeon scientists (T32 CA160003). Dr. Evers is a past member of three NIH study sections, a current member of the NCI Cancer Center Subcommittee A, and was the associate editor of the Sabiston Textbook of Surgery for the last six editions. Finally, Dr. Evers is a member of seven cancer center external advisory boards, and serves as chair on four of the seven.