Alexander Spyridon Baras, M.D., Ph.D.

Headshot of Alexander Spyridon Baras
  • Director, Pathology Informatics
  • Associate Professor of Pathology
Male

Expertise

Pathology

Locations

Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

401 North Broadway
Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building, 2242 Pathology
Baltimore, MD 21231
Phone: 410-955-3580
Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center - Google Maps

Background

The implementation of high-throughput, global analytic methodologies for various biomolecules is ushering in a new era of discovery in disease pathogenesis. Leveraging these technologies in the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutic approaches is a critical aspect of precision medicine. With these new technologies, which can be based on tissue morphology, protein expression, RNA analysis, genomic analysis, or other cellular features, scientists are uniquely poised to detect previously unidentified features of disease that can better guide patient management and treatment.

I oversee Precision Medicine Informatics and Bioinformatics for the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory in which we leverage clinical genomics data of malignancies. Effectively coupling a robust characterization of tissue specimens to these new technologies will optimally inform their use in the development of novel clinical diagnostics and therapeutic regimens. As a pathologist and bioinformatician in this field, I look to advance the front line of translational biomedical research, combining clinical, computational, and molecular techniques centered on tissue specimens with the ultimate goal of improving patient care. 

I also oversee the Oncology Tissue Services laboratory with respect to the development of protein and nucleic acid detection assays in tissue sections, as is done routinely in clinical practice. Additionally I oversee the digital pathology slide scanning serving of the Oncology Tissue Services laboratory along with the Department of Pathology.

I am a practicing pathologist specializing in genitourinary pathology with a comprehensive understanding of cellular and molecular research along with bioinformatics. I completed a residency in anatomic pathology at the Johns Hopkins University and an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. 

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Titles

  • Director, Pathology Informatics
  • Director of Precision Medicine Informatics, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Director, Digital Pathology
  • Associate Professor of Pathology
  • Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Associate Professor of Medicine
  • Associate Professor of Oncology
  • Associate Professor of Urology

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

Education

Degrees

  • MD; University of Virginia School of Medicine (2011)

Residencies

  • Pathology; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2014)

Fellowships

  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2015)

Board Certifications

  • American Board of Pathology (Anatomic Pathology) (2014)

Research & Publications

Selected Publications

Baras A*, Gandhi NM*, Munari E, Faraj S, Shultz L, Marchionni L, Schoenberg MP, Hahn NM, Hoque MO, Berman D, Bivalacqua TJ, Netto GJ. Identification and Validation of Protein Biomarkers of Response to Neoadjuvant Platinum Chemotherapy in Muscle Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma. PLOS ONE. 2015 June. Accepted for publication, in production.

Gandhi NM*, Baras A*, Munari E, Faraj S, Reis LO, Liu JJ, Kates M, Hoque MO, Berman D, Hahn NM, Eisenberger M, Netto GJ, Schoenberg MP, Bivalacqua TJ. Gemcitabine and cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma: Predicting response and assessing outcomes. Urol Oncol. 2015 May;33(5):204.e1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2015.02.011. Epub 2015 Mar 23. PubMed PMID: 25814145.

Gandhi NM*, Baras A*, Munari E, Faraj S, Reis LO, Liu JJ, Kates M, Hoque MO, Berman D, Hahn NM, Eisenberger M, Netto GJ, Schoenberg MP, Bivalacqua TJ. Gemcitabine and cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma: Predicting response and assessing outcomes. Urol Oncol. 2015 May;33(5):204.e1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2015.02.011. Epub 2015 Mar 23. PubMed PMID: 25814145.

Michailidi C, Hayashi M, Datta S, Sen T, Zenner K, Oladeru O, Brait M, Izumchenko E, Baras A, VandenBussche C, Argos M, Bivalacqua TJ, Ahsan H, Hahn NM, Netto GJ, Sidransky D, Hoque MO. Involvement of epigenetics and EMT-related miRNA in arsenic-induced neoplastic transformation and their potential clinical use. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2015 Mar;8(3):208-21. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-14-0251. Epub 2015 Jan 13. PubMed PMID: 25586904; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4355280.

Smith SC*, Baras AS*, Owens CR, Dancik G, Theodorescu D. Transcriptional signatures of Ral GTPase are associated with aggressive clinicopathologic characteristics in human cancer. Cancer Res. 2012 Jul 15;72(14):3480-91. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-3966. Epub 2012 May 14. PubMed PMID: 22586063; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3842017.

* co-first authorship

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