Dr. Chetan Bettegowda is a-surgeon scientist whose research is focused on undestanding the genetic underpinnings of central nervous system (CNS) cancers. He and his group have discovered several of the key driver genes involved in the pathogensis of a myriad of brain cancers, many of which are now used routinely to define the molecular classification of primary brain tumors. Dr. Bettegowda has also been focused on translating these genetic discoveries for translational benefit by applying them for the earlier detection of cancers. He and his group have published several of the seminal papers in liquid biopsies including a landmark study demonstrating the wide applicabilty of circulating tumor DNA for the detection and monitoring of cancers throughout the body. He has also published extensively on non-plasma based diagnostics for cancer detection. In addition to an active research enterprise, Dr. Bettegowda is a practicing neurosurgeon whose clinical efforts are focused on caring for individuals with primary and metastatic brain tumors.

Dr. Bettegowda has been reconized by numerous organizations for his outstanding work. He inagural recipient of the Jennison and Novak Families Endowed Chair in Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has also been awarded the Hunterian Research Award (2005), Sherman Award for Neurosurgery Resident Achievement (2008), Harvey Cushing Award for Research Excellence (2012), Hellen Taussig Award for Outstanding Research (2012), Reinhoff Scholar Award (2016) and the American Association of Cancer Researchers Team Science Award for Liquid Biopsies (2017).