SUMMARY
Aadel A. Chaudhuri, M.D., Ph.D., develops next-generation liquid biopsy, spatial biology, artificial intelligence and cancer genomics technologies and translates them to clinical use. Dr. Chaudhuri's work helps healthcare professionals detect cancer earlier, choose more-precise treatments and use minimally invasive methods to monitor tumor biology.
Dr. Chaudhuri leads the Liquid Biopsy and Immunogenomics Laboratory at Mayo Clinic. His group creates and advances field-leading approaches involving:
- Artificial intelligence (AI).
- Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).
- Cell-free DNA (cfDNA).
- Computational genomics.
- Epigenomics.
- Fragmentomics.
- Immune profiling.
- Single-cell biology.
- Spatial biology.
Dr. Chaudhuri's laboratory extracts increasingly sophisticated information about patients' tumors from blood and other minimally invasive biofluids. This information reveals not only whether cancer is present, but its biological state, the tumor's microenvironmental profile, treatment sensitivity and risk of recurrence.
As part of his scientific training, Dr. Chaudhuri was a principal investigator on foundational studies of microRNAs in cancer and immunity. He later led a seminal study, published in the journal Cancer Discovery, demonstrating that ctDNA could detect minimal residual disease after therapy months before it could be found using radiography. This work helped establish the conceptual and technical foundation for the modern field of ctDNA-focused minimal residual disease research. The approaches Dr. Chaudhuri helped create are now widely incorporated into prospective clinical trials, cancer drug development programs and commercial diagnostic platforms.
In another recent significant advance in precision oncology, Dr. Chaudhuri and collaborators at Stanford Medicine identified nine tumor microenvironment patterns across cancer types. This finding showed that these patterns could be detected through a blood test and provide information about immunotherapy response and resistance.
Dr. Chaudhuri's research program is supported by six National Institutes of Health R01, R35 and U01 awards for which he is principal investigator. He has received dedicated funding from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. He also has funding from Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic's Department of Business Development, the Prostate Cancer Foundation and other organizations.
Dr. Chaudhuri is committed to mentorship and physician-scientist development, mentoring trainees across career stages and serving on the admissions committee of the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences M.D.-Ph.D. Program.
Focus areas
- Liquid biopsy and noninvasive tumor profiling.
- Spatial and liquid tumor microenvironmental ecotypes.
- ctDNA minimal residual disease and molecular response assessment.
- Precision oncology and treatment-response prediction.
- Early cancer detection.
- Proximal biofluid cancer detection.
- Immunotherapy response and toxicity.
- Oligometastatic cancer risk stratification.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Chaudhuri's research on liquid biopsies could change how cancer is found, tracked and treated. His work aims to find cancer earlier and detect if it is still there after treatment, but before it appears on imaging tests. Dr. Chaudhuri's studies also help predict treatment response and harmful side effects. His research provides useful information about tumors and the space around them without the need for surgery or complex procedures.
Dr. Chaudhuri's team uses AI to study blood and other biofluids, to get a more complete and up-to-date picture of each specific patient's cancer. This information can help patients and their care teams choose the right treatment at the right time. It also may help reduce side effects and track how cancer changes over time.
Professional highlights
- Elected member, American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2026-present.
- Senior editor, Clinical Cancer Research, 2025-present.
- Mayo Clinic:
- Emerging leader, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2024-present.
- Enterprise co-leader, Cancer Precision Medicine Office, 2024-present.
- Principal investigator, Liquid Biopsy and Immunogenomics Laboratory, 2024-present.
- Vice chair for translational research, Department of Radiation Oncology, 2024-present.
- Distinguished Clinician Research Award, 2025.
- National Institutes of Health:
- Co-chair, Liquid Biopsies Interest Group, 2019-present.
- Standing member, Translational Immuno-Oncology R01/R21 Study Section, 2025-2029.
- R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award, 2021.
- K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award, National Cancer Institute, 2019.
- American Association for Cancer Research:
- Member, Team Science Award Committee, 2023-present.
- Co-chair, Clinical Trials Minisymposium, 2026.
- Chair, Educational Session, Annual Meeting, 2018, 2024.
- Chair, Major Symposium Session, 2023.
- Outstanding Clinical Scholar Award, 2014.
- Challenge Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation, 2025-2028.
- Luminary Lecture, Department of Radiation Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, 2024.
- Basic/Translational Science Award, American Society for Radiation Oncology, 2017, 2023, 2024.
- Michael Fry Research Award, Radiation Research Society, 2022.
- V Scholar Award, The V Foundation for Cancer Research, 2020.