Dr. Thomas Witzig received the B.S. degree in biology at Illinois State University and the M.D. degree at University of Illinois College of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Iowa followed by a clinical fellowship in hematology/oncology at Mayo Clinic. He completed a year of laboratory research in multiple myeloma and lymphoma under the direction of Drs. Philip Greipp and Robert A. Kyle. Dr. Witzig has been on the staff at Mayo Clinic since 1986.
Dr. Witzig’s clinical and research interests focus on blood cancers, especially non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma. His current focus is on agents that interfere with the DNA damage repair pathways and understanding the role of maladaptive inflammation in lymphoproliferative diseases. He has been a leader in the development of radioimmunotherapy, mTOR inhibitors, and immunomodulatory drugs such as lenalidomide. His group was the first to report the effectiveness rituximab for the autoimmune diseases that are IgG4 mediated and involve organs such as the orbit and pancreas. His research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute and the Predolin Foundation, among other organizations. During COVID-19 his lab discovered one of the mechanisms that the COVID-19 virus uses to cause severe disease. This is now being investigated in patients with Long COVID-19. Dr. Witzig has been honored with several awards during his career, including the Department of Medicine Outstanding Investigator, the Henry S. Plummer Distinguished Physician, and most recently the Barbara Woodward Lips Professor 1.
He has served as a teacher and mentor and has given numerous international, national and regional presentations, in addition to invited presentations. Dr. Witzig has co-authored more than 500 articles, books, book chapters, letters, and more than 600 abstracts.