Expert Directory

Paul G. Richardson, MD

Clinical Program Leader and Director of Clinical Research
Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
RJ Corman Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

Paul G. Richardson, MD, joined the Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center in 1999 after receiving certification in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology, as well as working in cancer pharmacology from 1994 onwards at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). He was appointed clinical director in 2001, and he led the development of several first-generation novel drugs, including bortezomib, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide. Subsequent studies have focused on next-generation novel drugs, including panobinostat, and second-generation proteasome inhibitors, including ixazomib and marizomib. More recently, his clinical innovations have been in the development of the breakthrough monoclonal antibodies elotuzumab and daratumumab for the treatment of both untreated and relapsed myeloma, as well as isatuximabin the relapsed and refractory setting, and, since then, antibody drug conjugates including belantamab mafodotin and other immunotherapeutic strategies. Further, he is leading the development of melflufen, a targeted and novel cytotoxic, and selinexor, a first-in-class small molecule that inhibits the nuclear export protein XPO1. 

At present, his major efforts have been focused on the Intergroupe Francophone Myelome (IFM)/DFCI clinical trial in newly diagnosed patients eligible for stem cell transplant treated with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (so-called RVD). This regimen has generated an unprecedented response rate, leading to its adoption in this international study, as well as in the United States and elsewhere, which incorporates genomic and proteomic evaluation to establish a future platform for tailored therapy. 

Dr Richardson has published extensively, having authored or coauthored more than 410 original articles and 320 reviews, chapters, and editorials in peer-reviewed journals. In addition to holding positions on the editorial boards of leading journals, he is prior chairman of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), Clinical Trials Core, a position that he held for 5 years as part of a rotating tenure and for which he continues as a member of the Steering and Project Review Committee. He was also a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Hematologic Malignancies Subcommittee for the required 1-year term, followed by a 1-year term on the ASCO Internet Cancer Information Committee during 2017. He was appointed chair of the Alliance Myeloma Committee in 2011 and continues in this important role today. 

Honors include the George Canellos Award for Excellence in Clinical Research and Patient Care and The Tisch Outstanding Achievement Award for Clinical Research, as well an honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), given in recognition for international contributions in multiple myeloma and stem cell transplantation. He was a co-recipient of the prestigious Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in recognition of the successful therapeutic targeting of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in 2012. He was also a co-recipient of the Accelerator Award for contributions to clinical research and patient enrollment in MMRC studies, as well as the Research Center of the Year Award in 2009, followed by a second award for Center of the Year in 2017. He was ranked by Thomson Reuters Science Watch amongst the top 19 investigators at DFCI for the most highly cited research in 2016. He was the recipient and co-recipient, respectively, of the American Society of Hematology Ernest Beutler Prize for clinical science and translational research in the development of proteasome inhibition as an effective treatment strategy for multiple myeloma in 2015, the COMy Award for multiple myeloma research (Paris, France) in 2016, the prestigious International Myeloma Foundation Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, and the Claire W. and Richard P. Morse Research Award for outstanding clinical research, awarded by the DFCI in 2019.